Keir Starmer Suspends Four Labour MPs Over Backbench Rebellions
Keir Starmer suspended three Labour MPs from the parliamentary party on Wednesday (Alamy)
3 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suspended four MPs from Labour following recent rebellions.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell were suspended on Wednesday after meeting with the Chief Whip, PoliticsHome understands.
At the same time, Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin had their trade envoy roles removed.
Labour sources said the MPs had been suspended due to repeated breaches of party discipline, pending a future review.
The move by Starmer comes after over 40 Labour MPs, including the suspended quartet, defied the Prime Minister to vote against the government's welfare reforms earlier this month.
Maskell, the MP for York Central, organised a reasoned amendment to the legislation that sought to defeat the reforms.
In June, a much larger number of Labour MPs threatened to rebel over the planned changes, forcing the government into major concessions on its plans to reduce benefits.
Duncan Jordan told PoliticsHome he would remain "as committed as ever" to the party's values despite being suspended.
"Since being elected, I have consistently spoken up for my constituents on a range of issues, including most recently on cuts to disability benefits. I understood this could come at a cost, but I couldn’t support making disabled people poorer.
"Although I’ve been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party today, I’ve been part of the Labour and trade union movement for 40 years and remain as committed as ever to its values.
"To my constituents: it’s business as usual. I remain your hardworking local MP, I will continue to take up your concerns and speak up for Poole."
Hinchcliff in a statement said: "Apologies for the brief interlude in responding to recent news about the withdrawal of the Labour Whip. I have been busy in the House of Commons chamber carrying on with my day job and making the case for a new generation of council housing to provide a secure start in life for every child currently in temporary accommodation.
"I remain proud to have been elected as a Labour MP and I hope in time to return to the Labour benches. In the meantime I will continue to fight every day for the needs of my constituents and nothing will change in how I engage with and represent those I was elected to serve."
One Labour Party source told The Times the MPs had been suspended for “persistent knobheadery".
One loyalist Labour MP told PoliticsHome: "This isn’t about criticism. This is tiresome dickheadery, as someone has already said. The story is what these individuals have done. The government is right to respond, indeed had to."
Additional reporting by Zoë Crowther.
