Sir Keir Starmer vowed to tackle child poverty “with the same vigour” as the last Labour government when challenged over his refusal to immediately axe the two-child benefit cap.
His first Prime Minister’s Questions since entering No 10 came a day after he suspended seven Labour MPs for backing an SNP motion to abolish the welfare limit.
Sir Keir said: “The last Labour government lifted millions of children out of poverty, something we are very, very proud of.
“And this Government will approach the question with the same vigour with our new task force. Already we’ve taken steps: breakfast clubs; abolishing no-fault evictions; decent homes standard; Awaab’s Law; and a plan to make work pay.”
It came in response to a question by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who pointed to former prime minister Gordon Brown’s call for Scottish voters to vote Labour to end child poverty ahead of the General Election.
“Yet, last night, Labour MPs from Scotland were instructed to retain the two-child cap which forces children into poverty,” he said.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Zarah Sultana and Imran Hussain have been kicked out of the Parliamentary Labour Party over Tuesday night’s Commons rebellion.
This isn’t a game. This is about people’s lives
Zarah Sultana MP
Ms Sultana suggested she was the victim of a “macho virility test” and said she “slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty” after being handed the six-month suspension.
Asked for her view of the Prime Minister following the action, Coventry South MP Ms Sultana told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m not interested in playing up to this macho virility test that seems to be what people are talking about.
“It’s about the material conditions of 330,000 children living in poverty.
“This isn’t a game. This is about people’s lives.”
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She also told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty that is affecting 4.3 million people in this country and it is the right thing to do and I am glad I did it.”
Although the rebellion was small and the motion comfortably defeated by the Government, opposition to the cap within Labour is not limited to the seven who lost the whip.
Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson said she had voted with the Government “for unity” but warned that the strength of feeling within the party is “undeniable”.
“We moved the dial, the campaign will continue,” she said.
Canterbury Labour MP Rosie Duffield has expressed support for scrapping the cap but said she could not attend Parliament on Tuesday because she has contracted Covid-19.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “The seven MPs who voted to scrap the cap spoke for millions of trade union members and many Labour Party members. Keir Starmer must restore the whip to them immediately.”
Members of the House of Commons voted 363 to 103, majority 260, to reject the amendment tabled in the name of Mr Flynn.
The cap, introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne, restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.
More than 40 Labour MPs recorded no vote, with some of those listed spotted in the chamber throughout the day, while others will have had permission to miss the vote.
The decision to remove the whip from the seven who defied the Government over the amendment is an early show of ruthlessness from the new administration, and sends a message that dissent will not be taken lightly.
Jonathan Ashworth defended Sir Keir’s move and said it was not surprising.
The former Labour MP, who played a prominent role in his party’s election campaign but suffered a shock defeat in his seat, told the Today programme: “I don’t think any of us should be surprised that Labour MPs who were … not defending the first (Labour) King’s Speech for 14 years would lead to this disciplining.”
He also accused the seven rebels of “gesture” politics, saying: “To join with the odds and sods, who are pretty impotent in Parliament, they knew there was no chance of this amendment passing.”
Ahead of the vote, Sir Keir had said there is “no silver bullet” to end child poverty but acknowledged the “passion” of MPs who were considering opposing the continuation of the Tory measure.
Jeremy Corbyn and four other independent MPs have written to the suspended Labour MPs, saying they look forward to working with them and welcoming more voices in Parliament who are “free to speak out against inequality and injustice without fear of repercussion from their party whip”.
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