Keir Starmer has suspended seven of his MPs after suffering his first rebellion as prime minister over the two-child benefit cap.
The revolt may have been small in scale, but it drew attention to one of the most thorny issues his new Labour government faces.
Over the course of the recent election campaign, Starmer and his shadow ministers insisted they would not be able to afford to immediately reverse the controversial policy, which prevents parents on universal credit who have three or more children from claiming additional support.
But pressure has continued to mount from charities, campaigners and politicians from former PM Gordon Brown to former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman.
This evening, the House of Commons voted on an amendment to the King’s Speech tabled by the SNP which said the speech ‘fails to include immediate measures to abolish the two-child benefit limit to universal credit’.
It was seen as the first possible rebellion from the Labour benches for Keir Starmer, who has been in power for less than three weeks.
In the end, the amendment was rejected by the House, with 363 voting no and 103 voting aye.
But seven Labour MPs had joined those voting for it: Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana.
All the rebels are considered to be on the left of the party, with several having served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
McDonnell, who was Corbyn’s shadow chancellor, said ahead of the vote: ‘I don’t like voting for other parties’ amendments, but I’m following Keir Starmer’s example as he said put country before party.’
Within minutes of the result being announced, the seven had had the Labour whip removed.
In a post on social media site X, Sultana said: ‘I have been informed by the Chief Whip & the Labour Party leadership that the whip has been withdrawn from me for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which would lift 330,000 children out of poverty.
‘I will always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society.’
The suspensions are an early sign of Starmer’s insistence on extremely tight discipline in his party, which he emphasised several times during the election campaign.
Before the vote took place, the Labour leader acknowledged the ‘passion’ of his MPs who were planning to vote for the amendment, but said there was ‘no silver bullet’ to end child poverty in the UK.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said Labour had ‘failed its first major test in government’ by choosing not to ‘deliver meaningful change from years of Tory misrule’.
He added: ‘This is now the Labour government’s two-child cap – and it must take ownership of the damage it is causing, including the appalling levels of poverty in the UK.’
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