In his interview on the Today programme, Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, suggested Labour MPs had a duty to support the changes to sickness and disability benefits being announced.

Asked what he would say to backbenchers minded to vote against the plans, he replied:

Look, I’m not going to deny that in the history of the Labour party, these issues about welfare and support have sometimes been difficult.
But when you get elected on a platform of change, and when you tell the public, the electorate, that you believe you have inherited a situation which needs change, then my message to any colleague in that position is, we have a duty to make those changes. It was the word on our manifesto.
And part of the change that we need is a welfare state that is better suited to the 21st century, that is sustainable for the future, that is there for people who need it, and that puts work at the heart of it.
And that is fully in line with the values of the Labour party.