MPs Block Lords Welfare Challenge

MPs have overturned a series of defeats inflicted on the government's welfare reform bill in the House of Lords. The coalition won seven key votes in the Commons, rejecting amendments made by peers and reinstating their original proposals into the legislation. These include plans for a £26,000 annual limit on total household benefits, including child benefit. Ministers say they will use a rule known as "financial privilege" to ensure Parliament approves the cap.
This will mean the Lords cannot send the same amendments back to the Commons when they re-consider the bill for a final time, preventing what is known as "ping pong" between the two chambers and effectively ending parliamentary opposition. The measure, which the government says it will also apply to Lords amendments on employment and support allowance (ESA), relates to the principle that the Lords cannot oppose tax and spending decisions agreed by the Commons. Read more on the BBC website.