Helen Whately has launched a scathing attack on the Government, following the dramatic collapse of its welfare reform bill in Parliament.
The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary declared that "the Prime Minister's reputation is now in tatters" after ministers were forced to withdraw significant portions of the legislation during debate.
Sir Keir Starmer's bill passed the second reading after blocking an amendment, with 335 MPs voting for and 260 voting against.
Speaking to GB News, Whately described the events as "an extraordinary afternoon in the chamber" that demonstrated the Government had "completely lost control" of its backbenchers.
Whately hit out at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer following the benefits bill vote
GB News
Whately argued that the chaotic scenes in Parliament showed that "Number 10 has lost control of their back benches" and "the whole of Government".
She stated: "Already Labour had been making U-turns on this welfare bill. It started out saving £5billion, then they made a U-turn which brought it down to about £2.5billion.
"And then literally, in the chamber this afternoon, the minister stood up, made an intervention, and pulled half of the bill out. He can't even say now how much he's going to save.
"But what is crystal clear is that the Government's economic credibility is in tatters, and Keir Starmer's authority is in tatters too."
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MPs passed the second reading of Labour's welfare reform bill, with 335 voting for and 260 voting againstParliament TVThe Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary warned that the legislation's savings could now be "down to absolutely zero" following the Government's retreat.
"These have been diminishing savings," she said, noting that the minister himself was unable to confirm whether any savings would materialise.
She added: "The Minister himself couldn't say whether there would be any savings now, and there's a review that will determine, really, whether there will or there won't. So this could be all this fuss, potentially, for no savings."
Whately argued that the debacle demonstrated fundamental weaknesses in the government's ability to govern effectively.
"Governments have to be able to make difficult decisions. It's impossible to see how someone will be able to make any difficult decisions in the years ahead. He cannot control his party," she said.
Whately told GB News that the bill could result in 'no savings' for Labour
GB News
The Shadow Secretary placed blame directly on the Prime Minister and Chancellor, stating: "It was his fault and Rachel Reeves' fault. They got themselves into this position.
"They brought forward really bad legislation, really inadequate, insufficient savings as well, and they didn't listen to their backbenchers, and they didn't listen to us, either, and they have bought this for themselves."
She concluded: "I don't know how anyone actually could vote for the shambles that we've seen this evening, and we were quite clear what we would support.
"We would put support more savings, to support getting more people into work. This bill didn't do that. As I say, it's next to no savings.
"Actually, you're just going to have civil servants working with and doing something that's not proper reform, what they need to do is bring forward real reforms."
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