TWO of the seven Labour MPs suspended from the party due to their opposition to the UK Government’s two-child benefit cap have learned they face extended punishments through the media.
On Wednesday, four of the seven – Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, and Rebecca Long-Bailey – had the whip restored after serving a six-month suspension for backing an SNP-led amendment to scrap the cap.
However, the remaining three – John McDonnell, Apsana Begum, and Zarah Sultana – remain suspended.
Begum and Sultana both said they had only found out that they would not be getting the Labour whip back through the media.
“I have found out in a news article that I’ve not had the Labour whip restored which was removed for voting to scrap the two-child limit,” Begum said.
“Almost half of all children in my borough grow up in poverty. I want to be clear: I will always stand up for the people of Poplar and Limehouse.”
Sharing an article in the Mirror, Sultana said: “I've just found out from this article that my whip still hasn't been restored.
“Turns out speaking up for Palestine is still a punishable offence.”
McDonnell said he was “disappointed” that Begum and Sultana continued to be suspended but was “relaxed” about his own situation.
“Pleased my colleagues got whip back but disappointed Zarah and Apsana haven’t yet,” he wrote.
“Relaxed about my own position as I’ve made clear I don’t expect whip back until we know whether police are to charge me following recent Palestinian demo after which I was interviewed under caution.”
He and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were voluntarily interviewed by police after the demonstration in London in January.
The amendment to the King’s Speech to scrap the two-child benefit cap last summer was Keir Starmer’s first Commons rebellion. The Government comfortably defeated the vote, but more than 40 Labour MPs recorded no vote.
The House of Commons voted 363 to 103, majority 260, to reject the amendment tabled in the name of SNP Westminster leader Stephen 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.
Top Labour figures had attacked the cap while in opposition, but in power have defended keeping it in place.
In Scotland, the SNP Government has said it will scrap the cap for Scottish families from 2026.
