Diane Abbott has urged the prime minister to drop his government’s winter fuel payment cuts and welfare reforms, which she warned could have a political effect akin to Margaret Thatcher’s poll tax.

The Labour MP, who served as shadow home secretary during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as opposition leader, insisted it was “not too late” to drop the proposals.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which the government is planning to overhaul, Abbott pointed to public “disaffection” with the measures.

She said: “Elements in the Labour Party seem to want to claim that the loss of the by-election in Runcorn, and the fact that Labour lost two-thirds of the seats we were defending [at the local elections], was all about immigrants.

“But surveys of voters found, far from it being all about immigrants – the single most important reason for vote switching was anger at the government cutting the winter fuel allowance and welfare cuts like the cuts proposed for PIP.”

She added: “Some of us are old enough to remember Mrs Thatcher and her poll tax and it was her undoing. It is not too late to drop the winter fuel tax and the cuts to PIP, and I plead with my government to do so.”

In a series of short speeches delivered after Abbott’s contribution, MPs on the Labour left condemned the government’s measures and in several cases vowed to vote against them.

Richard Burgon said: “Harold Wilson once said the Labour Party is a moral crusade or it’s nothing… I’ll be voting against these cuts to disability benefits, and I know that many of my colleagues will be doing so as well.”

Rachel Maskell said: “I will be voting against these cuts because I am Labour and because disabled people matter.”

John McDonnell, who currently sits as an independent MP, said: “I don’t like to do this with my own government when it’s so new within its first year, [but] I’ll be voting against and I’m hoping the government will think again and withdraw this proposal.”

Andy McDonald said: “This is policy making in the dark – I’ll be voting against because it’s always country first and party second.”

Cat Eccles said: “One in three of us will become disabled in our lifetime. I will vote against these proposals.”

Nadia Whittome said: “We must be true to our values as a party and stand up for the whole of the working class, including disabled people, whether they are in work or not.

“It’s not too late for the government to drop these cuts – if it doesn’t, I will vote against them.”

Steve Witherden said: “I will vote against this. The government must withdraw these proposals and ensure disabled voices are at the forefront of all future reforms.”

Ian Lavery said: “I’ll definitely, definitely be voting against these measures – I wasn’t voted in to make my people poorer, for Heaven’s sake.”

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The democracy minister has pledged to “enhance” the current framework of safeguards designed to prevent foreign money entering the UK political system.

The comments came during a Westminster Hall debate on the UK’s political finance rules, prompted by an e-petition on the topic signed by over 140,000 people.

Rushanara Ali, the democracy minister, told MPs that foreign money has “no place in the UK’s political system.”

But she added: “The current rules no longer match the sophistication and perseverance of those who wish to undermine our laws. This threat must be addressed through stronger safeguards.

“That is why the government committed in its manifesto to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties, including enhanced safeguards against foreign donations.

“We are considering a series of new measures which would achieve this, such as enhanced checks by recipients of donations and tighter controls on donors, including more restrictions around company donations.”

Rumours and reports earlier this year suggested Elon Musk, the richest individual in the world, had been considering donating as much as $100m (£80m) to Reform UK.

Although foreign nationals are banned from donating to British parties, there was speculation that he could funnel the money through the UK arm of X, the social media platform he owns.

During the debate on Monday, former cabinet minister Anneliese Dodds called on the government to introduce legislation to ensure foreign nationals who are not registered to vote in the UK cannot donate to British political parties.

Intervening on a Labour colleague’s speech, Dodds, who resigned from government late last month, said: “Survey evidence has indicated that over three quarters of people… do not want to have a situation where foreign nationals who aren’t registered to vote here can actually donate to political parties here…

“Does she agree with me that we need to see legislative change?”

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Manuela Perteghella said: “Our current rules leave our democracy exposed. Whether through digital interference, shell companies or strategic donations, hostile actors have found ways to reach into our democratic process.”

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Labour MP Kevin McKenna has revealed he is living with HIV during a parliamentary debate.

McKenna, who represents the constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey in Kent, is now the third MP to share his HIV status.

Speaking in Westminster Hall on Thursday, he encouraged people to “just get tested”.

McKenna said: “So I’ve lived for a long time as an HIV positive man. I’ve lived a long time in my life, starting off with friends taking tablets that did have quite severe side effects, some side effects that actually were very unpleasant and actually led to then still suffering from HIV and AIDS.

“But at the same time now, it’s whittled down to one tablet a day. And as I get into my fifties, it sits alongside my statins and my arthritis medication, all the other medications that we all have at a certain point in our lives.”

The Labour MP added: “So a very strong message today is honestly everyone just get tested, get tested. Everyone do it, it is absolutely fine. It’s just a little scratch on the finger. And there should be no stigma.

“You won’t pass this disease on when you’re treated, you won’t actually suffer. And honestly, it’s boring and mundane.”

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The Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on public access to defibrillators.

She said: “It is an ultimate reminder that we are interconnected by shared humanity, that we rely on kindness of strangers, and that one day it might be any one of us needing a passer by to save our lives”.

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The Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on VAT on audiobooks.

Speaking in the debate, Sir Mike said: “I’m going to kick now for these people who are suffering this 20 per cent tax for no fault of their own, which is surely morally, ethically … wrong”.

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Conservative MP Mark Garnier today led a Westminster hall debate on government policy on tackling rogue builders.

He asked the minister: “The really important point is will his department, … work with us to find a solution once and for all to this problem, to stop the scourge of rogue builders?”

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The SNP MP Lisa Cameron today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the regulation of cryptocurrency.

She said in the debate: “We heard in our report the need for this joined up coordinated approach across all government departments. And we’ve set out that government might also consider the appointment of a crypto tsar who could help to coordinate across departments and support the minister to ensure a consistent approach”.

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During a Westminster Hall debate about improving the private rental sector, led by Labour MP Dan Carden, Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Owen said the government were to blame for the current housing crisis.

She noted that people are being priced-out of areas they call home due to high rents, or being evicted by section 21 no fault evictions.

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The Labour MP Andrew Western today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the Healthy Start scheme and increases in the cost of living.

Speaking in the debate, Mr Western commented on “The stigma, shame and anxiety felt by families who are forced to steal or risk their child’s health – and what it must be like to feel helpless hearing again your child’s hungry scream that many parents now know so well”.

Others who contributed in the debate were SNP MP Alison Thewliss and shadow public health minister Andrew Gwynne. Neil O’Brien, the minister for primary care and public health, responded for the government.

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The Conservative MP Selaine Saxby today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on reducing plastic pollution in the oceans.

Speaking in the debate shadow paymaster general Fleur Anderson asked the minister: “Will she consider bringing forward a national action plan for tackling plastic pollution to increase the focus and action on this issue?”.

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The Labour MP Jon Cruddas today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on Allergy Awareness Week.

Speaking in the debate, Mr Cruddas said: “Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Health Committee’s landmark report on the provision of allergy services”.

He added: “Simply put, the vast majority of those recommendations remain unmet. We’ve lost 20 years. Nothing really has changed”.

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The Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the potential merits of a special tribunal on Ukraine.

Speaking in the debate, shadow minister Stephen Doughty said: “These are some of the worst crimes that we have seen and the most incontrovertible case of aggression. And also, establishing a special tribunal and finding against Putin and Russia, which I very much hope it would do, would lead us to a place where we could potentially take further action to practically help the people of Ukraine”.

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Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck raised a Westminster Hall debate on child poverty in the North of England.

She noted that children in the north are disproportionately affected by poverty and said that the government were not doing enough to help, calling the levelling fund ‘an empty promise’.

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The SNP MP Dave Doogan today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the subject of early access to pensions for people with a terminal illness.

Mr Doogan said: “It’s awful to think that for so many people with terminal illness in their last days, these days are filled with worry and fears beyond the terminal illness with which they’ve been diagnosed”.

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The Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi today initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).

Mr Dhesi said: “It was only a generation ago that a couple in work could aspire to get on the property ladder to eventually pay off their mortgage and to give their children a helping hand. Today, that dream is out of reach for millions of people. Thanks to the utter failure of this government”.

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A Westminster Hall debate was held, prompted by an e-petition calling for a public enquiry into Brexit as the ‘promises have not been delivered’.

MPs mainly showed their support for this enquiry, as the room was made up of ‘remainers’, with just two pro-Brexit MPs in attendance.

Labour MP Hilary Benn said the promise that we would keep our EU benefits, with added perks, was ‘simply untrue’ which was ‘unforgivable’.

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