A MAJOR Labour rebellion is brewing over plans to push hundreds of thousands of long-term sick Brits back into jobs.
Ministers are braced for a party split ahead of a looming announcement on contentious welfare reforms.
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Dozens of MPs are backing the shake-up, insisting Britain has a “moral duty” to cut the spiralling sickness benefit bill.
But angry left-wingers are already gearing up for a battle, warning brutal cuts could push vulnerable disabled people into poverty.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall could announce as early as tomorrow tough new rules that would force 2.4 million claimants currently off work sick to start preparing for employment.
Under the reforms, hundreds of thousands could face cuts to their benefits if they refuse to engage in job-prep activities.
Treasury bosses eye savings of £5billion from tightening rules around personal independence payments and dramatically increasing benefit reassessments.
Pro-reform backbenchers last night vowed to support these “hard choices”.
In a letter, a group of 36 Labour MPs calling themselves the “Get Britain Working Group” insisted the controversial reforms are “a truly progressive endeavour.”
They wrote: “We believe reforming our broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endeavour.”
But on the Left, dozens of MPs are planning to rebel and want to send a letter to the Treasury and the PM ahead of the Spring Statement.
Labour’s Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, warned against “draconian cuts”, urging ministers not to “start with the stick”.
She said: “What I am most concerned about is the narrative. I’m getting letters from constituents who are very, very worried about losing their benefits.
“It feels like the Government is getting the bad news out of the way before the spending review.
“I want the Treasury to listen at this point, and give us the guarantee that our constituents who need state support will be helped and not frightened.”
Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden said on Sunday the current welfare system was “not fair on the taxpayer”.
He told Sky News: “We are the Labour Party. The clue is in the name. We cannot be relaxed about every year, hundreds of thousands more people going on these benefits.”
Insisting that “we’ve got to reform the system”, Mr McFadden said ministers “can’t allow” further rises in sickness claims and said 200,000 of the long-term sick were already willing to work if offered help.
He added: “We’ve got a duty to put that support in place; that will be better for them, and it will get the bill down for the country.”
Under current trajectories, Britain is set to spend £20 billion more on sickness and disability benefits in just five years.
Official figures show there are 270,000 young people aged 16 to 34 who are not working due to long-term sickness and mental health conditions.
This number has surged by 60,000 (26 per cent) in the past year alone, according to the DWP.
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