Sir Keir Starmer has suspended four Labour MPs for 'persistent breaches of party discipline' after they rebelled against welfare cuts, deepening internal party tensions. Rachel Maskell, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Neil Duncan-Jordan lost the whip on Wednesday, while three other MPs were stripped of their trade envoy roles.
The disciplinary action follows a major rebellion last month that forced the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to abandon plans to cut disability benefits. Maskell, the York Central MP, was a leading figure in the revolt, which saw the government remove contentious changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) from the Universal Credit Bill.
Maskell said she was suspended for 'standing up for my constituents' and urged Starmer to engage with backbenchers. Duncan-Jordan confirmed his suspension, stating: 'I couldn't support making disabled people poorer.' Leishman, who voted against the bill, said he would not 'make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity.'
The move risks inflaming a civil war within Labour, coming weeks after former MP Zarah Sultana quit to join Jeremy Corbyn's new hard-Left party. Starmer, who recently described himself as a 'hard b*****d', is seeking to reassert authority ahead of the summer recess.
