United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will face his first House of Commons grilling on Wednesday after suspending seven Labour MPs who rebelled over a controversial welfare policy.
On Tuesday evening, Starmer suspended the MPs after they backed a motion to remove the two-child limit on benefits, a policy introduced by the previous Conservative government. This limit, established in 2015, restricts welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.
Starmer, who has been in power for only a few weeks following Labour Party’s landslide victory in the July 4 general election, has described his decision to suspend the MPs as a necessary show of authority. He acknowledged the passion of those opposing the policy but warned that there is “no silver bullet” to ending child poverty.
The suspension included prominent left-wing figures such as former finance spokesman John McDonnell. This move is seen as a demonstration of ruthlessness from Starmer’s new administration, which aims to shift Labour back to the political centre after the hard-left regime of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Starmer, who led Labour to its worst election result in nearly a century in 2019, will now face his first weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session at 1100 GMT, where the contentious two-child cap is expected to be a key issue.
On Tuesday, MPs voted 363 to 103 against a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to scrap the cap, giving the government a substantial majority. Despite this, more than 40 Labour lawmakers abstained from voting, highlighting significant unease within the party.
Liverpool MP Kim Johnson, who voted with the government “for unity,” emphasised the strong opposition within the party. “We moved the dial, the campaign will continue,” she said.
SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn criticized Labour’s decision, claiming the party had “failed its first major test in government” by not delivering meaningful change. “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,” Flynn stated.
