If Keir Starmer wasn’t already aware of the strength of feeling among Labour MPs at the government’s plan to slash the welfare bill, it was brought home to him on Thursday evening.

Party whip Vicky Foxcroft – someone whose job it was to persuade Labour MPs to back the government – resigned in protest, saying she could not vote for reforms which will hit the incomes of disabled people.

In her letter to the PM, she said: “I have wrestled with whether I should resign or remain in the government and fight for change from within. Sadly it now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see.

“I therefore tender my resignation as I know I will not be able to do the job that is required of me and whip – or indeed vote – for reforms which include cuts to disabled people’s finances.”

As a former shadow minister for disabled people, and a party loyalist, Foxcroft’s resignation will have sent a shiver up spines in No.10.

The government’s plans, set out in a bill published last week, will make it harder for people to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and reduce the health element of Universal Credit.

Ministers insist it will make the benefits system more sustainable by cutting costs by £5 billion, while also encouraging more people into work.

But there is widespread anger among Labour MPs, more than 100 of whom have written to the government’s chief whip, Alan Campbell, telling him they cannot support the measures.

In a bid to buy off some rebels, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall announced that those losing their PIP will continue to receive their money for 13 weeks. For many MPs, however, this is nowhere near enough to win their support........

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