Sir Keir Starmer suspended four Labour MPs from the parliamentary party on Wednesday for “repeated breaches of discipline”, prompting an “appalled” reaction from colleagues and raising questions about whether the rebels have hit a nerve with their pointed criticism of the Prime Minister’s strategy.
The suspensions came after a Prime Minister’s Questions session described as “chock-full of glum faces on the government benches”, reflecting the deep unease within Labour ranks over the leadership’s approach to welfare reforms and party discipline.
Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, and Rachael Maskell were stripped of the whip after being summoned to Chief Whip Alan Campbell’s office. Additionally, three MPs – Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and Mohammed Yasin – lost their plum roles as trade envoys in what appears to be a coordinated crackdown.
Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he was “appalled” by the suspensions, warning that such decisions risk “rolling out the red carpet for Reform. Byrne, who was himself suspended last year over the two-child benefit cap rebellion before being reinstated, accused the leadership of punishing MPs “for standing up for what’s right”.
Chris Hinchliff, the MP for North East Hertfordshire elected just last year, vowed to keep fighting for his constituents despite the suspension. 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,” he said in a statement, adding he hoped “one day to return to the party’s backbenches.
The disciplinary action has exposed a striking contrast with previous Labour governments. As political observers noted, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell rebelled hundreds of times under New Labour without being suspended. This suggests the current MPs’ pointed criticism of the Starmer strategy has “clearly hit a nerve”, raising questions about the leadership’s tolerance for dissent.
“When MPs were told after the vote that No 10 was ‘fully committed to engaging with parliamentarians’, this was not what they were expecting,” one Westminster insider observed. The suspensions go wider than just the welfare vote, with sources citing “persistent breaches of party discipline” as the justification.
All seven disciplined MPs were among 47 Labour members who voted against the government’s welfare reforms, even after Starmer made significant U-turns to avoid parliamentary defeat. The government had initially proposed £5 billion in cuts to disability and sickness benefits, triggering what political scientist Steven Fielding called an “authority-sapping climbdown.
A Labour source told The Times that some MPs were suspended for “persistent knobheadery”, whilst another insider warned “the executions are continuing. The harsh language and timing – just before the summer recess – appears designed to instil discipline over the break.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, defended his stance: “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.
Brian Leishman, representing Alloa and Grangemouth, remained defiant: “I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences.”
Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, was reportedly emotional and “close to tears” after her suspension meeting. Despite having what she called a “positive conversation” with the Chief Whip, she was upset “that we are in this place because I believe we are better than that as a party.
The suspensions represent a dramatic escalation after what one MP described as “a tricky few weeks for the government, in which Labour backbenchers overturned plans to cut back welfare spending. The rebellion forced Starmer into embarrassing concessions, undermining his authority despite Labour’s massive parliamentary majority.
Political scientist Steven Fielding warned it was a risky strategy: “He wants to send a signal to all the others that rebelled… but I think he’s going about it in the wrong way. He needs to talk to and understand why the MPs are doing this.”
The Corbyn-supporting pressure group Momentum condemned the move as “a desperate act from a failing Government”, while Richard Burgon MP expressed disappointment that the leadership hadn’t taken “a different approach to backbenchers. Jon Trickett MP declared “it’s not a sin to stand up for the poor and disabled”.
The question now is whether this heavy-handed approach will instil discipline over the summer break or further inflame tensions. With Labour trailing Reform UK in many polls and fundamental disagreements over political direction unresolved, the rebels appear to have struck a nerve that goes beyond simple parliamentary management.
As one Westminster observer noted, these MPs’ criticism has clearly resonated in ways that hundreds of rebellions under previous Labour governments did not, suggesting deeper anxieties within Starmer’s leadership about maintaining control and political direction.
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