Why suspended Labour MPs clearly hit a nerve with Starmer

Sky News

3 days ago

After a tricky few weeks for the government, in which backbenchers overturned plans to cut back welfare spending, now a heavy hand to get the party into line.
Three newly-elected MPs, Neil Duncan-Jordan, MP for Poole, Brian Leishman, MP for the new Alloa and Grangemouth constituency, and Chris Hinchcliff, for North East Herefordshire, have all had the whip suspended.
Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, who was first elected a decade ago, is the fourth.
They will all sit as independent MPs and will not be allowed to stand for Labour at the next election, unless readmitted. All appear to be surprised - and upset.
Three more have lost plum roles as trade enjoys - Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin, all on the left of the party.
All were active in the rebellion against the government's welfare reforms, and voted against the changes even after a series of U-turns - but were among 47 Labour MPs who did so.
When MPs were told after the welfare vote that Number 10 was "fully committed to engaging with parliamentarians", this was not what they were expecting.
We're told the reasons for these particular suspensions go wider - over "persistent breaches of party discipline" - although most are not high profile.
In the scheme of things, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell rebelled against the Labour whip hundreds of times under New Labour, without being suspended.
But these MPs' pointed criticism of the Starmer strategy has clearly hit a nerve.
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Maskell - who was referred to, jokingly, in the House of Commons earlier this month by Tory MP Danny Kruger as "the real prime minister" - led the rebellion against cuts to winter fuel allowance which triggered a U-turn which she said would still leave pensioners in fuel poverty.
There was an attack on the government's values. Duncan-Jordan, a trade unionist who won the Poole seat by just 18 votes, led the welfare rebellion, telling Sky News the proposed cutbacks were "not a very Labour thing to do".
Hinchliff, who has also opposed the government's housebuilding strategy and plans to expand Luton airport,had told his local paper he was willing to lose the whip over welfare cuts if necessary. He also has a marginal seat, won by fewer than 2,000 votes.
Leishman, a former pro golfer, has also been vocal about government plans to close the refinery in his Grangemouth constituency after promising to try and make it viable. They are MPs who the leadership fear are going for broke - and that's concerning as more tough decisions on spending are likely to come.
But after a poorly-handled welfare vote, in which MPs seemed to be in the driving seat forcing changes, will this instil a sense of discipline over the summer break?
While some MPs will see this as a deterrent to rebellion, for those whose chances of re-election are small, it may continue to be seen as a price worth paying.
To other Labour MPs, the move is confusing and may be counter-productive. One Labour MP on the left told me: "So, we're suspending people for winning an argument with the government?"
Another, in the centre, feared it looked divisive, saying: "We need to go into the summer focused on the opposition - not involved in our melodramas."
Number 10 wants to show rebelling comes at a price - but many Labour MPs with concerns about their political direction will want to know the prime minister is planning to listen to concerns before it gets to that point.