The Commons vote on welfare cuts may be dropped to avoid embarrassment for the prime minister.

A crunch Commons vote on Labour’s plans to slash the welfare budget could be pulled to avoid Keir Starmer suffering a humiliating Commons defeat, HuffPost UK has learned.

Senior government sources say there are only “two options” available to the prime minister as the backbench rebellion against the plans continues to grow.

One is to scrap the planned vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which is due to take place next Tuesday.

The other is to water down the legislation in a bid to stop the rebels voting it down.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak today became the latest big name to make clear his opposition to the legislation.

He said: “Everyone agrees our welfare system needs to work better, particularly when it comes to support to get people into decent jobs. But changes that could push disabled people and their families into poverty are not the........

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