PM suspends rebel Labour MPs after backbench revolt

Sir Keir Starmer has suspended four Labour MPs as he seeks to reassert his authority after a series of damaging backbench rebellions.

- KATE DEVLIN DAVID MADDOX

Rachael Maskell, one of Sir Keir's fiercest opponents in the recent revolt over welfare reforms, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Neil Duncan-Jordan have all had the whip withdrawn over persistent breaches of party discipline. In response, Mr Leishman and Mr Duncan-Jordan both hit out, saying they had not been elected last year to make people “poorer”.

The move comes before politicians depart Westminster for the summer early next week and follows speculation that some Labour MPs could have been in talks to join a new party being created by ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

But a senior Labour figure said the punishment “shows how weak they are” and added: “It only hastens Starmer’s fall by showing his absolute weakness.”

Sir Keir suffered a serious blow earlier this month when dozens of his own MPs voted against his planned welfare cuts in parliament. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, now faces the task of filling the £5bn hole in the public finances left by the climbdown, raising speculation she will be forced to raise taxes in the autumn.