Welfare warfare just the start of Starmer's problems
The New Statesman | UK politics and culture
The New Statesman
4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 June 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
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Summary
With yet another U-turn from the government, the fate of the welfare bill is left in the hands of the backbenchers.
In this episode, Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Editor-in-Chief Tom McTague and business editor Will Dunn to discuss the potential consequences of defeat in Tuesday night's vote, Rachel Reeves‘ precarious position and how we got here in the first place.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, Will Hutton here from former leaders. I think your podcast is particularly timely. |
| 0:05.3 | To leading thinkers. We have lots of academics who've looked at this in real detail. I've gathered |
| 0:09.9 | some of the best minds in social science to help me explore the research, evidence and policies that could |
| 0:15.3 | shape the world around us. You have to be prepared to take risks. So why not join me as I |
| 0:20.2 | discover the big ideas that could shape the way we live? |
| 0:23.3 | This has been extraordinary. |
| 0:24.4 | Subscribe to the We Society Now on Spotify, Apple and all good podcast platforms. |
| 0:32.7 | The New Statesman. |
| 0:35.7 | Well, they chip away at authority, don't know, rebellions. Once MPs have |
| 0:41.2 | rebelled once, they find it much easier to do it again. Like voting in general elections as well? |
| 0:47.2 | Like if you break the seal. You get the habit of doing it. Oh, that's an argument for votes at 16, |
| 0:52.4 | which I think you just made. |
| 0:55.3 | Possibly by accident. I don't think I meant to, but I'm not giving my children the vote at all on anything. |
| 1:00.3 | It's an authoritarian household. |
| 1:03.7 | To some extent, the most remarkable thing about the impending welfare reform vote is that it's happening at all. |
| 1:10.3 | So what happens now? And how did the |
| 1:12.4 | government allow it to come to this? I'm Rachel Connelleth and this is the New Statesman podcast. |
| 1:18.5 | Joining me, I have Tom McHag, our editor and Will Dunn, our business editor. Hello. Hello. So let's kick |
| 1:24.7 | off with where we are on Monday as opposed to at the tail end of last week. |
| 1:30.7 | Tom, there have been concessions. Is it going to be enough? Where are we? |
| 1:35.3 | So I've just got off the phone with Andrew Ma. So I feel like I'm up to speed on this. |
| 1:40.4 | And he was telling me that he thinks at the moment as we record on Monday afternoon |
... |
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