Keir Starmer sacked seven of his MPs this evening (Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer was branded “ruthless” this evening after he sacked seven of his own MPs for rebelling against him in a key King’s Speech vote over child benefits.
Government whips had spent the day threatening MPs in the hope of staving off the widely-anticipated rebellion.
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However, seven hardline socialist MPs trooped through the Aye lobbies this evening, backing an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
The move sparked immediate retribution from the new Government, with all of them immediately losing the Labour whip for six months.
Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana will now all sit as independent MPs, alongside former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
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READ MORE: Keir Starmer defeats two child benefit cap rebellion - how did your MP vote?
Chief Whip Sir Alan Campbell told the seven MPs this evening they had been sacked (Image: Getty)
The move, which was designed to demonstrate to any other Labour MPs thinking they can rebel over the coming parliament, has also cut Sir Keir’s landslide majority by 14.
42 Labour MPs abstained on the vote, including rebel ringleader Diane Abbott.
In a statement this evening, Ms Abbott said she had been away from Parliament and therefore unable to vote, slapping down any suggestion she had been ‘got to’ by Government whips.
The Mother of the House tweeted that she was “horrified” by Sir Keir’s brutal sacking of her colleagues.
“Personal reasons meant I could not be in Westminster this evening to vote against the 2 child benefit cap.
“But horrified colleagues suspended for 6 months for voting against, when removing the cap is supposed to be party policy.”
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Diane Abbott said she was "horrified” by the brutal sackings (Image: Getty)
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Zarah Sultana, one of the suspended seven, tweeted: “I have been informed by the Chief Whip & the Labour Party leadership that the whip has been withdrawn from me for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which would lift 330,000 children out of poverty”.
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“I will always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society.”
Green MP Sian Berry replied: “Respect. There should never have needed to be a vote on this”.
Richard Burgon said he was “disappointed” by his loss of the whip, adding: “I encourage the new Government to come forward with a plan on this, alongside its other initiatives, as so many other figures across the Labour Party and our wider trade union movement have called for”.
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