THE SEVEN LABOUR MPs who defied the UK Government by backing an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap have lost the whip.

The cap was introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne and restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer today faced his first Commons rebellion, but the UK Government comfortably defeated calls to scrap the benefit cap.

Seven Labour MPs rebelled to support the SNP-led amendment to the King’s Speech, which is an opportunity for the government – particularly a new government – to set out its legislative agenda for the coming months. 

The seven MPs were: Apsana Begum; Richard Burgon; Ian Byrne; Imran Hussain; Rebecca Long-Bailey; John McDonnell; and Zarah Sultana.

John McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey both served on the Shadow Cabinet under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

They have all been suspended from the parliamentary party for six months, after which their position will be reviewed.

In a post on X, Sultana said: “I have been informed by the Chief Whip & the Labour Party leadership that the whip has been withdrawn from me for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which would lift 330,000 children out of poverty.

I have been informed by the Chief Whip & the Labour Party leadership that the whip has been withdrawn from me for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which would lift 330,000 children out of poverty.

I will always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society.

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) July 23, 2024

“I will always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society.”

Ahead of the vote, Starmer said there is “no silver bullet” to end child poverty but acknowledged the “passion” of Labour MPs who were considering rebelling over the continuation of the Tory measure.

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 House of Commons voted 363 to 103, majority 260, to reject the amendment tabled in the name of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

Slow handclapping could be heard in the chamber after the result was announced.

Flynn said Labour had “failed its first major test in Government” by choosing not to “deliver meaningful change from years of Tory misrule.”

“This is now the Labour government’s two-child cap – and it must take ownership of the damage it is causing, including the appalling levels of poverty in the UK,” he said.