Labour suspends seven rebel MPs over two-child benefit cap
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c978m6z3egno
by IXMCMXCII
Labour suspends seven rebel MPs over two-child benefit cap
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c978m6z3egno
by IXMCMXCII
37 comments
Sir Kid Starver, Mr ‘Country First, Party Second’ himself, opting to keep 500,000 kids in poverty to own the left.
Just incredibly cruel, really.
Whatever your views on the policy, why stand for an election with a party if you are going to vote against the manifesto in the first month?
Edit: party policy during the election campaign, technically not in the manifesto.
I’m surprised that Diane Abbott and Kim Johnson didn’t vote against the government. One of them has a long history of defying the whip and the other has campaigned hard on child poverty. Suspending Diane Abbott would’ve been much more consequential.
Edit: Diane Abbott is sick, so she can’t attend. I bet she will be suspended in less than 12 months.
I get why the Labour party feel the need to make an example of these individuals it being an earlier test of their unity and all, but I am also glad that these individuals are willing to stand up and voice their opposition to it. Labour continuing this regressive Tory policy directly harms working class and impoverished kids, that needs to be remembered.
If there is no pressure from the left on the ruling party to end this policy, then Starmer’s government have no incentive to eventually u-turn on it. And if this beige centrist version of Labour only faces opposition from the Tories and Reform, it will only be pulled to the right.
I mean, not even Tony Blair suspended MPs for voting against the whip or with their hearts. Starmer’s going way too far here he’s trying too hard to appear look like a statesman or “pragmatic”. It should be added 42 Labour MPs abstained. Even if it was an “SNP trap” it would never have got through due to Labour’s big majority.
“Country First, Party Second”
Utterly vile. the only seven labour MPs willing to their walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to tackling child poverty.
I hope the rest of the Labour Party never gets a good night’s sleep for the rest of their days.
It’s been pretty clear from the moment Starmer became Labour leader that he’s an authoritarian who has no love for democracy. Anyone expecting or hoping he’ll do away with FPTP is just being foolish
Seven? is that all that rebelled? Media had it like he was looking at most of his party rebelling…. but Seven?
the cap should stay, but tweak it a bit… make it clearer how it comes into effect and who it effects. Those who end up losing work and need help until they get into work, give them a year with all kids being paid for… after that, the cap comes into force.
Have a kid and have another pregnancy resulting in twins/etc, Cap doesn’t apply.
Do what people i know personally have done by having babies solely to keep benefits going (Old friend of the family would have a kid every few years to keep a benefit going as their previous kid aged out of it for example)/get more… then the cap stays.
Starmer is mad if he expects this level of obedience.
So, we actually have just 7 labour mps. the rest are tories, voting for tory policy.
“That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Labour Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first class people to semi–starvation. Now Labour are pouring out money in propaganda of all sorts and are hoping by this organised sustained mass suggestion to eradicate from our minds all memory of what we went through. But I warn you they have not changed, or if they have they are slightly worse than they were.”
A speech that will made 10-15 years from now by an up and coming left-wing firebrand – these kids will not forget and they will not forgive
The person who Starmer is and the people he surrounds himself are far too preoccupied to own the left. It’s ironic that this lot talk about grown-up politics but have reverted to student politics because just like student politics, the tories are pretty much non-existent and irrelevant.
Starmer showing he’s a got a labour church so broad, he can just about fit a twiglet in it.
I’d point out the irony of a guy whose election slogan was “change” aggressively maintaining the status quo, but let’s be honest, we all knew this was how the Starmer clique was going to govern.
So much for people voting for change then.
Not that votes like this matter in the scheme of things though, it’ll be forgotten about within a year.
Starmer is not one to brook dissention, but any leader who would not react when challenged like this so early on is just asking for massive trouble down the line.
If you are going to rebel, then there has to be consequences. If there aren’t then everyone knows you can just play around.
Subak was weak and it showed in his party discipline. Starmer is not going to make the same mistake.
Hope you’re happy with your Labour Party, liberals. The “just hold your nose” and “they’ll be socialists when they get in” people are very quiet right now…
Yeah I’m glad how stupid do you have to be to vote against the party, on a trap Bill just stupid. Push for it internally not in public.
The Government is getting the country ready for some nasty medicine to plug the larger-than-expected fiscal holes in the budget. They were never going to dump a politically popular policy to spend more money. Dumping policies like this is for down the line, for an end of term Government showing that its fiscal management has provided the funds to change social policy by spending more on things like this during a second term.
What do you expect from an authoritarian party lol.
Zarah Sultana losing the whip really puts into perspective just how far to the right Kier has moved the party.
She’s probably the hardest working back bencher in Parliament, and would be an immense asset to any party who actually do what the Labour Party has always claimed to believe in.
For those keeping score:
Spread the LGBT groomer conspiracy theory on social media = all good.
Vote to lift children out of poverty = whip removed.
Is this the centre-right or the centre-left party of British politics?
7 Labour MPs stood by a manifesto then cry the moment they realise something wasn’t in it.
This is an amendment to the King’s Speech. Why would you vote against it?
Starmer is being strong to show how he deals with rebels, immediately. Only way he sees to keep the party in line. Large majorities are prone to factionalism, so he is setting out his position early.
You don’t allow your own MPs to support opposition notions in the kings speech where you set out your legislation
Whether he repeals the cap or not, rebellions destroyed the conservative party with an 80 seat majority. I don’t know what the MPs expected unless they wanted a martyrdom
There is a fundamental problem with politics where our representatives are punished for voting with their concience by an authoritarian party leadership. Our recent and pleasantly ex conservative MP voted excusively on party lines got ont several comittees and plenty of photo ops with cabinet members. It delivered little or nothing to the people for who they were elected. Time for change. Starmer needs to listen and not be so authoritarian as to be out of touch with the concerns of the electorate as expressed by their representatives.
So the order is now “Party First, Country Second, Starving kids Third”
Love how many comments are acting like this was actually a vote that could have removed the cap instead of performative nonsense. There will be plenty of time for Labour MPs to put forth their opinions on child poverty in the coming months. The King’s speech for a brand new government ain’t that place.
A lot of people are going to be very surprised when they realise who Starmer really is.
Glad my MP had the conviction to vote to scrap it. I wasn’t expecting how pro child poverty Labour are though.
Arh. Yes proof that we don’t have a dictatorship. Don’t do what the whip says and you get suspended.
Labour have a historic majority with which they can do whatever they like. This is what they want to do with it, this is what they believe in. This is their policy now. They could’ve got rid of it easily, but they voted to keep it and kick out anyone who disagreed.
If I was one of these MPs (or some of the others who weren’t brave enough to rebel), I’d start looking at joining the greens or starting a leftwing party. The last election showed how little enthusiasm there is for Starmer’s Labour Party and how even independents can beat established MPs.
Keir is ruthless but I think that if he delivers on the benefit of prioritisation, he will be admired for that.
Maybe a labour government wont be so bad after all 😉
Just gonna say how much I hate when the BBC says something like
“Seven MPs lose whip”
But never actually state who.
“X is among a number of Mps who…”
Give me names damnit
No sympathy for unfit parents on benefits with more kids than they can afford. Should have them taken away honestly.
Parents are the ones responsible and nobody else.
This seems like a bad move strategically. With Labour’s massive majority this would have gone through anyway so why add seven more MPs to the sizeable non Tory Opposition (Lib Dems , SNP, Greens plus several independents) who are likely to threaten Labour from the left , which is the real threat (to Starmer) considering how fed up the public are with the Tories.