Hackney MP Meg Hillier: a key rebel in revolt against Labour’s welfare bill

Concerned about cuts: Dame Meg Hillier MP
The MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, Meg Hillier, has been at the forefront of a backlash against the prime minister’s welfare bill, which is to be voted on today.
The bill includes controversial changes to disability benefit.
As head of the cross-party Treasury select committee, Hillier’s role is usually one of scrutineer rather than rebel.
However, she was the first signatory on last week’s amendment which has given the revolt the initial weight to persuade Sir Keir Starmer’s government to make concessions.
Dame Hillier was one of the small group of MPs who worked out a compromise solution last week.
However, her questions in the House of Commons on Monday over the details show that rebel MPs still have cause for concern.
Other key movers and shakers opposing the bill are:
- Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth
- Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley
- Marie Tidball, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge
- Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central
- Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Whilst Andy Burham does not have a vote in Tuesday’s debate, he has implored MPs not to vote for a “50 per cent U-turn”.
Likewise, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan is also urging the government to dump its proposed disability benefit changes.
The London mayor has said that the welfare bill, which more than 100 Labour MPs have warned they would vote against, would “destroy the financial safety net” for millions of people.
Meanwhile, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), a think tank have joined the debate. Its head of social policy, Tom Pollard, has said, on X:
“The updated poverty impact assessment for the disability benefits cuts once again offsets the impact of not proceeding with the previous government’s proposed plans.
“The impact of actual changes happening in the real world is likely to be closer to 250,000 people pushed into poverty.”
The updated poverty impact assessment for the disability benefits cuts once again offsets the impact of not proceeding with the previous government’s proposed plans
The impact of actual changes happening in the real world is likely to be closer to 250k people pushed into poverty pic.twitter.com/1IV0GN0C7p
— Tom Pollard (@PollardTom) June 30, 2025
Note: This article was amended at 20:43 on Tuesday 1 July 2025 to amend the tense in the opening sentence from “is” to “has been”.