Seven Labour MPs have had the whip suspended for six months after voting against the government on an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell was among the Labour MPs who voted for an SNP motion calling for an end to the policy, which prevents almost all parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credit for more than two children. Mr. McDonnell backed the SNP motion alongside Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum, and Zarah Sultana.
MPs rejected the SNP amendment by 363 votes to 103, in the first major test of the new Labour government’s authority. The two-child cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, does not apply to child benefit, a weekly payment made for every child someone has.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that removing the two-child benefit cap would eventually cost the government £3.4 billion a year, roughly 3% of the total budget for working-age benefits. Figures show an estimated 1.6 million children live in families affected by the policy. However, a recent YouGov survey suggested that 60% of people think the two-child limit should remain.
Losing the whip means the MPs are suspended from the parliamentary party and will now sit as independents. Nearly all of the rebels were allies of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now sits as an independent MP and supports the SNP motion. Ms. Sultana told BBC Radio 4’s Today program she had not been informed she would lose the whip if she voted for the amendment but said this would not have changed her decision.
Mr. Burgon expressed disappointment over his suspension, while Ms. Begum said she voted against the cap because it had “contributed to rising and deepening levels of child poverty and food insecurity for many East End families.” Mr. Byrne stated that scrapping the cap was the “best way” to help his Liverpool West Derby constituents living in poverty.
Jonathan Ashworth, a former Labour shadow cabinet member and a key figure in the party’s election campaign, described voting for the amendment as “a futile gesture.” The decision to remove the whip is an early show of force from the new government in the face of its first rebellion. Labor whips are sending a message that dissent will not be tolerated, although many more Labour MPs oppose the cap and hope the party will decide to scrap it in the coming months.
The government has said it is not prepared to make “unfunded promises” by abolishing the cap. Sir Keir Starmer was challenged by SNP MPs over the issue during the Prime Minister’s Questions. In response, he pointed to the government’s new child poverty task force and plans to introduce free breakfast clubs in primary schools as evidence of his commitment to lifting children out of poverty.
Meanwhile, five independent MPs, including Mr. Corbyn, who support scrapping the cap, have said they look forward to working closely with the seven ex-Labour MPs who have been suspended. Kim Johnson and Rosie Duffield were among 19 Labour MPs to sign another amendment calling for an end to the cap, which was not put to a vote. Several prominent critics of the cap, including Ian Lavery and Nadia Whittome, abstained after signing rebel amendments.
Labor veteran and Mother of the House Diane Abbott did not participate in the vote due to “personal reasons” but expressed horror that MPs were suspended “when removing the cap is supposed to be party policy.” Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, who also signed a rebel amendment, did not vote against the government because she believed “none of the votes taking place tonight would have resulted in scrapping the cap.”
In a social media post she said: “There will be an Autumn Budget soon and I know myself and other colleagues will be working constructively with the government to make scrapping the cap part of it.”
Despite the rebellion, Sir Keir easily passed the first major test of his government—passing the King’s Speech. Separately, Labour defeated a Conservative attempt to insert an amendment to the King’s Speech promoting Tory policies on defense spending, illegal migration, and cutting inflation by 384 votes to 117.
A Lib Dem-tabled amendment seeking to commit the government to focus on crises in the health and social care system, sewage dumping, and electoral reform was defeated by 382 votes to 85, despite support from Reform UK, the Green Party, and parties from Wales and Northern Ireland. Opposition parties customarily try to amend the King’s Speech to include their priorities for the next parliament, though they almost never succeed.
