Claim ffe85733Checked 21 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“The Opposition voted against balancing universal credit in this way.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
Based on the research, the picture is clear:
**Second Reading (1 July 2025):** The Conservative Party was whipped to vote "No" on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. Every Conservative MP who voted did so against the bill. (They did, however, *abstain* on a separate "wrecking amendment" tabled by Labour rebel Rachael Maskell — but that is a different vote.)
**Third Reading (9 July 2025):** The Conservative Party was again whipped to vote "No." Every Conservative MP who voted did so against the bill, alongside all Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Greens, and Reform UK MPs.
So the Conservative Party — the official Opposition — voted against the welfare reform bill (the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill) at both its Second Reading and Third Reading, which are the principal substantive votes on the legislation. The only vote on which they abstained was the Maskell "wrecking amendment," not the bill itself.
Starmer's characterization of the bill as "balancing universal credit so that it no longer pushes people away from work" is his framing of what the legislation does. The claim that the Opposition voted against it is accurate — they voted No on the bill at both key stages.
Sources:
- Beyond The Vote, "Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill: Second Reading — Tuesday, 1 July 2025" — https://www.beyondthevote.co.uk/division/2074
- Beyond The Vote, "Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill: Third Reading — Wednesday, 9 July 2025" — https://www.beyondthevote.co.uk/division/2091
- Politics.co.uk, "How every MP voted on Labour's welfare bill after major eleventh-hour U-turn" — https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/07/01/how-every-mp-voted-on-labours-welfare-bill-after-major-eleventh-hour-u-turn/
- BBC News, "Government's diluted welfare bill clears House of Commons" — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2zyvypmeeo
- Sky News, "Controversial welfare bill passes final Commons stage" — https://news.sky.com/story/controversial-welfare-bill-passes-final-commons-stage-but-only-after-another-concession-13394674
From speech
Welfare reform is balancing universal credit so that it no longer pushes people away from work. That is what we are doing; the Opposition voted against it. Welfare reform is introducing a right to try, to incentivise people to take up opportunities. That is what we are doing; they voted against it. Welfare reform is providing record funding on apprenticeships. That is what we are doing; apprenticeship starts fell by 40% on their watch. The right hon. Lady talks about the welfare bill. It soared by £88 billion on their watch. Nearly 3 million people were written off. Face-to-face assessments collapsed because of the contracts they agreed. And who signed off those contracts? The shadow Chancellor.
Sources opened