LABOUR rebels have been warned to get behind welfare reforms — or face losing their seats.
The MPs are risking a voter backlash if they block plans to get the long-term sick back to work, a party insider claimed.
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The source said: “They’ll have to look voters in the eye and admit they’re happy to do nothing while welfare costs spiral out of control.”
It comes amid fears of a major rebellion over a planned £6bn crackdown on disability benefits due to be announced early next week.
Labour MPs were dragged into crisis talks at No10 as officials laid bare Britain’s spiralling benefits bill.
The latest figures show 1.8 million Universal Credit claimants now receive no job-search support.
The figure is nearly four times it was before the pandemic.
And under-25s deemed too sick to work have more than tripled to 160,000.
The Government said this means the system is “effectively abandoning” millions by locking them out of work indefinitely.
The health and disability-related benefits bill is now £65bn a year.
It is projected to increase to £100bn over the next four years.