Cabinet ministers have been asking Labour MPs to take their name off a rebel amendment to the government’s controversial welfare bill, Sky News can reveal.
In an attempt to quell the mounting rebellion of more than 100 MPs across all wings of the party, cabinet ministers were instructed to ring around the signatories of the amendment in a bid to get them to back the welfare cuts ahead of a planned vote next Tuesday.
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Two Labour MPs said they had been asked if they would take their names off the amendment, while one was asked if they would be prepared to abstain on the bill next week.
One Labour MP said: “‘The more they tell people to take their names off, the more names are added on.”
Others were also told their actions could provoke a fresh leadership challenge and that they were aligning themselves with Nigel Farage in a bid to get them to back down.
“I had a conversation with a senior cabinet member yesterday who basically said if the government is defeated next week it will trigger a leadership contest,” a Labour MP said.
“I can see how that might be the case but I would argue if that’s where we end up it’s because the government have allowed that to happen. The ball is very much in their court.
“By and large the rebels do not want this to be about leadership. We just want to government to listen.”
Another added that while they had not received a call from a cabinet minister, they knew “some colleagues are being told there will be a leadership challenge or a general election which is utter nonsense”, adding: “Everything is all over the place.”
The amendment, if passed, would effectively kill the government’s welfare reforms by failing to give it a second reading in the Commons.
