Keir Starmer was tonight forced into a humiliating climbdown by Labour's army of welfare rebels.
The Prime Minister is said to have handed them 'massive concessions' in a bid to avoid defeat in a crunch vote on benefit cuts next week.
Experts warned it meant fresh tax raids this autumn were almost inevitable because the reforms, projected to save £5billion, will now save much less.
The concessions are understood to include watering down reforms to personal independence payments (PIP), which would have hit vulnerable people unable to wash or dress themselves.
Privately, ministers were cautiously optimistic last night that the climbdown will enable them to peel off enough of the 126 rebels to press ahead with a Commons vote on Tuesday.
