Keir Starmer warned as winter fuel and welfare cuts likened to Thatcher’s poll tax

Diane Abbott has urged the prime minister to drop his government’s winter fuel payment cuts and welfare reforms, which she warned could have a political effect akin to Margaret Thatcher’s poll tax.

The Labour MP, who served as shadow home secretary during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as opposition leader, insisted it was “not too late” to drop the proposals.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which the government is planning to overhaul, Abbott pointed to public “disaffection” with the measures.

She said: “Elements in the Labour Party seem to want to claim that the loss of the by-election in Runcorn, and the fact that Labour lost two-thirds of the seats we were defending [at the local elections], was all about immigrants.

“But surveys of voters found, far from it being all about immigrants – the single most important reason for vote switching was anger at the government cutting the winter fuel allowance and welfare cuts like the cuts proposed for PIP.”

She added: “Some of us are old enough to remember Mrs Thatcher and her poll tax and it was her undoing. It is not too late to drop the winter fuel tax and the cuts to PIP, and I plead with my government to do so.”

In a series of short speeches delivered after Abbott’s contribution, MPs on the Labour left condemned the government’s measures and in several cases vowed to vote against them.

Richard Burgon said: “Harold Wilson once said the Labour Party is a moral crusade or it’s nothing… I’ll be voting against these cuts to disability benefits, and I know that many of my colleagues will be doing so as well.”

Rachel Maskell said: “I will be voting against these cuts because I am Labour and because disabled people matter.”

John McDonnell, who currently sits as an independent MP, said: “I don’t like to do this with my own government when it’s so new within its first year, [but] I’ll be voting against and I’m hoping the government will think again and withdraw this proposal.”

Andy McDonald said: “This is policy making in the dark – I’ll be voting against because it’s always country first and party second.”

Cat Eccles said: “One in three of us will become disabled in our lifetime. I will vote against these proposals.”

Nadia Whittome said: “We must be true to our values as a party and stand up for the whole of the working class, including disabled people, whether they are in work or not.

“It’s not too late for the government to drop these cuts – if it doesn’t, I will vote against them.”

Steve Witherden said: “I will vote against this. The government must withdraw these proposals and ensure disabled voices are at the forefront of all future reforms.”

Ian Lavery said: “I’ll definitely, definitely be voting against these measures – I wasn’t voted in to make my people poorer, for Heaven’s sake.”

Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.