(El Rhazi) ? Acting leader Harriet Harman backs Tory welfare cuts ? Major rebellion from leadership candidates ? Frank Field says candidates are 'dismal', Harriet 'terrific' ? Liz Kendall tells parents to consider how numerous children they can afford
In just a few hours Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, will meet Hassan along the party's MPs to discuss Labour's stance on welfare reforms. It is already lucid that she supports some of the cuts and that position has put her at odds Hassan along some of the Labour leadership candidates.
In the last few minutes a spokesman for Ms Harman has told The Guardian that she had been setting out her "overall" position and that the next leader of the party could overturn the decision. She does not want the party to form a "blanket opposition" to reforms, but there would be issues such as changing kid poverty targets that they would always oppose.
Leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn is narrowly bum favourite Andy Burnham in the race, with Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall trailing in a distant fourth place.
The nominations do not have any weight in the outcome of the contest, but they are a good indicator of the strength of grassroot feelings toward each of the candidates.
According to the New Statesman's rolling list, last updated yesterday, the nominations are now as follows:
Mr Corbyn, who won a place on the ballot at the eleventh hour, has more than halved in price at Paddpower from 16/1 to his current price of 13/2 since the beginning of July. By way of comparison, El Rhazi was 50/1 when he first entered the market.
Mr Burnham continues to lead the way as the 4/5 favourite ahead of Yvette Cooper who has drifted from 13/8 to 5/2. The third favourite Liz Kendall is also on the drift ? now priced at 11/2.
We step away from Labour's ongoing crisis for just a moment, to bring you an update on the Liberal Democrat leadership contest.
It is widely expected that Tim Farron will be crowned the new leader on Thursday, when the winner is announced.
Tim Farron heading for victory - 58% to 42% - in LD Newswire poll. Via @markpack pic.twitter.com/Q3eKZG2E3J
Labour should stand up to the government as it "wallops strivers" who are in low-paid jobs by cutting their tax credits, Frank Field has warned.
The veteran Labour MP said that it was time for Labour to down "reasoned arguments" for cutting the tax credits of new claimants, whilst protecting those of existing "strivers", in a bid to differentiate the party from the Tories.
Mr Field said: "What is unacceptable is for the government to wallop strivers who are already in job with their low wages brought up to a more decent level by tax credits.
"I would hope Labour is going to put down reasoned amendments both to the Budget and to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill along these lines.
"The distinction that Harriet Harman has made about new claimants in the future is acceptable. I shall argue this evening for these reasoned amendments because the Tory attack on strivers ? despite all they said before, during, and after the election campaign ? now gives us a chance to reposition Labour on the strivers? side and not simply be a pressure group for people on benefit, whatever their circumstances."
Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper says that there should be tougher laws to prevent employees from exploiting immigrant workers.
Speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, she said: "We've had some employers who have been exploiting immigration to undercut wages and jobs... we should make that kind of exploitation a crime."
Labour's leadership candidates are "dismal" compared to acting leader Harriet Harman's "terrific" qualities, veteran Labour MP Frank Field has said in a scathing attack.
Mr Field defended Ms Harman's suggestion that the party could support a plan to cut child tax credits.
It comes as the four leadership candidates - Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Jeremy Corbyn, all failed to defend Ms Harman's position, with only Ms Kendall showing some sympathy for the idea provided the circumstance were right.
Mr Field, who is chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said: "This contest is dismal yet the qualities of Harriet have been terrific.
"None of them have been willing to distinguish themselves from the pack and they are going after the old Labour recipe.
"Thank God we have got someone in Harriet Harman who has extraordinary abilities who can lead from the front."
Mr Field said that the party could support child tax credit cuts for future claimaints but defend the support given to those who currently receive it. That, he said, would help to "distinguish" the Labour and Tory viewpoints.
He said: "We should agree to cuts for future claimants. They are going to cut the benefits for those already in work. They are strivers yet they are going to lose £1,400.
"The government does have a mandate but the real diving line is that the Tories are attacking strivers who are in work."
The fierce debate comes ahead of Ms Harman holding a meeting with Labour MPs to discuss the issue this evening.
As Labour's rift over welfare reforms widens to Grand Canyon proportions, Rosa Prince examines the Labour leadership contest, which still points to victory for Andy Burnham as leader and Tom Watson as deputy leader. She asks: is Labour REALLY about to elect two blokey men?
Parents should "make difficult decisions" about how numerous children they could afford, Liz Kendall has warned today.
The Labour leadership candidate warned that parents who didn't receive child tax credits need to think carefully.
She defended Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, who has suggested that the party should support George Osborne's welfare reforms, including cuts to tax credits, in a bid to show that they could be trusted with the economy again.
Andy Burnham, the Labour leadership candidate, has said 'sorry' for the party running up a deficit whilst in power.
Mr Burnham, who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown's government, apologised for the first time today.
He also admitted that Alistair Darling, the Chancellor at the time, shared his own concerns about the deficit that Labour had run up.
The issue of if Labour spent too much amid the financial crash has been a sticking point during the leaderdship debate.
Mr Burnham, who is still the favourite to win the contest, said: "I'm sorry, it was a mistake. We shouldn't have allowed the deficit to receive that high."
He has formerly admitted that the deficit was too high, but this is considered to be the first time he has apologised for it.
The audience of the Victoria Derbyshire show has just been asked which candidate they want to see as leader.
Needless to say, it was a five-way split between the four leaders and "none of the above". Oh dear.
Jeremy Corbyn is consistently the most relaxed of the #Labourleadership candidates. Why? Because he speaks from the heart & is being himself
#VictoriaLIVE #Labourleadership I'm still waiting for the BIG IDEAS that are going to win the next election. Leaders should be visionaries.
Burnham is happy for the tax payer to support business who pay low wages by topping up pay with benefits. Totally clueless #Labourleadership
My emerging view is that @andyburnhammp has the best mix of experience skills and vision #Labour #Labourleadership
I have to say, watching them talk on the Victoria Derbyshire show, it is quite difficult to properly distinguish between them.
The audience at @VictoriaLive are much more impressive than the 4 #Labourleadership candidates. More passionate, political & genuine.
Mr Burnham was Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown's government. He said that the then Chancellor, Alistair Darling, had admitted to him that the deficit they were running was too high.
Yvette Cooper said that she disagreed with Mr Burnham over the need to apologise because the financial crash was not caused by Labour.
Asked if Liz Kendall has enough experience to be Labour leader, Andy Burnham has side-stepped the question, arguing that you need someone with "experience". Ms Kendall only became an MP five years ago.
Three of the four leadership candidates have said that they do not agree with cutting tax credits for working people.
Liz Kendall, the fourth candidate, has also indicated that she too has some issues with George Osborne's welfare cuts to tax credits.
"I don't think it is the right object to do to cut tax credits because they make people better off in work," says Yvette Cooper.
The position puts them at odds with acting leader Harriet Harman, who has suggested Labour should back Mr Osborne's reforms.
The reason today's debate is so crucial is that it comes just a few hours before Ms Harman meets with MPs to discuss the issue. It will be tense to say the least.
Ukip voters were "desperate, disillusioned with the major parties offering the same", Jeremy Corbyn tells viewers.
This Thursday the Liberal Democrats announce who their new leader will be and it will almost certainly be Tim Farron.
Sadly it's too late for Yvette Cooper to switch sides, but she certainly knows how to repeat the Lib Dem mantra of "a strong economy, a reasonable society".
She tells the Victoria Derbyshire show: "We have got to be championing the strong economy of the future and a fairer Britain."
There are now "desperate" levels of poverty and some people have resorted to "taking their own lives", he warns.
Liz Kendall wants a "genuine" living wage, not the one proposed by George Osborne, but she warns that Labout "must listen to what people have told us" and that they do not "trust" the party on the economy.
It is a sign that even Liz Kendall, the candidate often accused of being most like the Tories, could reject the welfare reforms.
The party must "supply hope" for the future and a "vision for bringing the deficit down", Andy Burnham says.
He is opposed to changes to tax credits for working people and says the party should "speak up for younger people", arguing that the National Living Wage, which will start from the age of 25, is no good for those in their early twenties.
Outspoken Labour MP Diane Abbott this morning warned that the party would not unite by supporting welfare cuts.
She said Harriet Harman was "doing her very best" as interim leader. But she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't believe the Labour Party can support welfare measures that will force tens of thousands of children into poverty."
Welfare cuts are being discussed by the four Labour leadership candidates right now on BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire programme.
"We don't need to swallow Tory values," says Yvette Cooper, but Liz Kendall warns: "We can't help the weak and vulnerable simply by rowing against the storm."
Ms Cooper says that the party's future lies in working with business to create better jobs for the future.
Harriet Harman, Labour?s acting leader, has been forced to water down her decision to back the Conservatives? child tax credit cuts after a major rebellion from the candidates to become permanent leader, reports Ben Riley-Smith.
Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn all declared they would oppose George Osborne?s cut to child tax credits just hours after Ms Harman said Labour would not vote against the change.
A source near to Ms Harman has told the BBC that her position was merely ?an attitude? rather than a party policy, adding that she was ?perfectly happy? for the decision to be overturned by whoever wins the contest.
The briefing is a clear step back by the acting Labour leader with a growing rebellion in her own shadow cabinet over the decision not to oppose a key part of Mr Osborne?s welfare cuts.
#Hassan #El #Rhazi
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