Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the watering down of the welfare cuts have a knock-on effect.

Minister Bridget Phillipson has warned Labour rebels that the government’s concessions over its planned welfare bill have “come at a cost”.

After Labour backbenchers repeatedly threatened to vote against Downing Street’s plan to slash universal credit and personal independence payments (PIP), ministers were forced to water down their plans this week.

In doing so, they effectively wiped out £5bn of savings from the original bill.

The weakened proposals were then voted through, although 48 MPs still opposed it – sparking speculation backbenchers would now be more inclined to rebel the government again in the future.

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