Keir Starmer is under pressure following a backlash from many of his own MPs and Aaron Bastani following a dreadful local election campaign.
Many MPs are blaming voter desertion on out-of-touch decisions such as cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance for millions of pensioners as well as the possibility of cutting disability benefits.
Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South posted to X:
Labour losing one of its safest seats shows what happens when a government cuts disability benefits and winter fuel payments, keeps the two-child benefit cap, and panders to anti-migrant rhetoric:
Reform wins and always will.
This isn’t the change people voted for and it shows.
Labour veteran Diane Abbott posted to X:
Labour leadership saying the party will go further and faster in the same direction. They don’t seem to understand that, it is our current direction that is the problem.
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, posted to X:
Labour losing Runcorn was avoidable and as much a result of our party’s failures as Reform’s rise.
Now, we need to learn the right lessons, not double down on the same mistakes.
Cutting disability benefits and scrapping the Winter Fuel Allowance made voters abandon us.
The leadership needs to end its obsession with chasing the far-right on immigration, which only bolsters Reform.
Instead, we must tackle the real causes of falling living standards and broken public services like austerity, de-industrialisation, and climate vandalism.
Tax the super-rich and multinational corporations.
Scrap the disability benefit cuts and the two child limit.
End austerity.
Put money in people’s pockets.
Work together to build a fairer, healthier, and more equal society.
This is the programme we need.
Labour MP Jon Trickett posted to X, saying: "I warned about the electoral implications of cutting the Winter Fuel payment".
I warned about the electoral implications of cutting the Winter Fuel payment. Now we're seeing the consequences.
But I caution the Labour government that cuts to benefits for sick & disabled people will cause even more damage.
Labour must change course before it’s too late.
Even Labour MP John McDonnell had some words of wisdom for Keir Starmer, posting to X:
Tin eared response from Labour spokespeople to election results so far. Labour supporters feel Labour, their party, has turned its back on them citing Winter Fuel Allowance, NI tax on jobs & threat of disability cuts. Message to ministers is drop the plans to attack disabled.
Aaron Bastani, Co-Founder @novaramedia confirms the statements of many Labour MPs, posting to X:
Labour do not lose the Runcorn by-election without cuts to PIP & Winter Fuel Allowance. In fact they keep it with a majority of thousands.
Visibly going after the disabled, and pensioners, has dismantled their coalition.
How didn’t they see that coming?
https://twitter.com/zarahsultana/status/1918244692312961232
https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1918262872091635913
https://twitter.com/NadiaWhittomeMP/status/1918244836294959430
https://twitter.com/jon_trickett/status/1918298378082861191
https://twitter.com/AaronBastani/status/1918316771938873643
