BURY South MP Ivan Lewis has explained why he chose not to vote against Government's welfare cuts.

On July 20, the first stage of the Tories' welfare reform and work bill passed by 308 to 124 votes after Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman instructed the party's MPs to abstain on the vote.

Critics have hit out at Ms Harman — and the MPs who followed her lead — accusing them of failing to representing the poorest in society.

If the bill becomes law, the household welfare cap will fall from £26,000 to £23,000, child poverty targets will be abolished, and child tax credits will be cut.

Mr Lewis defended his decision to abstain, as 48 of his Labour colleagues voted against the bill. Bury North's Conservative MP David Nuttall voted in favour of it.

Mr Lewis said: “Labour moved an amendment for the bill, which I voted for, and that fell.

“At that point, we have to ask ourselves: ‘Do we just oppose everything or we do abstain?’

“There are some positive aspects to the bill, related to apprenticeships, for example, and there are some parts that reflect what we said we would do if we got elected, but there are also some bad parts.

“Now, at the next stage, we have an opportunity to table amendments to the bill as a credible alternative."

Mr Lewis added: "While we did well in Bury South, Labour had a catastrophic result across the rest of the country in the elections.

"People have had enough of Labour opposing everything.

"People want to know that if we oppose what the Tories are doing, we have a credible, affordable alternative.

"There is a very strong feeling that we find many things abhorrent that the Tories do, but if Labour becomes a party of protest rather than a party of alternatives, it's not a credible way to politics, nor is it honest."