A government minister has told Labour MPs punished for voting against welfare reforms that they have only themselves to blame in the escalating rebels row.
Keir Starmer suspended Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff on Wednesday after the four rebels voted against the government’s flagship benefits bill earlier this month.
Responding to controversy over the prime minister’s decision, home office minister Jess Phillips said on Thursday: “I disagree often with directions that are going on and I spend time working with colleagues on the back and front benches ensuring that we discuss these things.
“Constantly taking to the airwaves and slagging off your own government – I have to say: what did you think was going to happen?”
There had to be a level of party discipline for the government to function, Ms Phillips, who is the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The four MPs all voted against the government over the welfare reform legislation, but party sources said the decision to suspend the whip was taken as a result of persistent breaches of discipline rather than a single rebellion.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Phillips said: “We were elected as a team under a banner and under a manifesto, and we have to seek to work together, and if you are acting in a manner that is to undermine the ability of the government to deliver those things, I don’t know what you expect.”
Referring to a description of the rebels by an unnamed source in The Times, she told Sky News: “I didn’t call it persistent knob-headery, but that’s the way that it’s been termed by some.”
Ms Maskell, who spearheaded plans to halt the government’s welfare reforms, hit out at Sir Keir’s attempt to assert his authority over the party, saying he was wrong to carry out a purge of persistent rebels.
The York Central MP said: “On this occasion, I don’t think he’s got it right.”
Speaking to the BBC, she added: “I really hope from this process there will be reflection over the summer, but also learning. There needs to be a better reach-out to backbenchers to ensure that we are the safeguards of our government.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir faced a fresh challenge to his authority when senior left-winger Diane Abbott said she had no regrets about comments on racism that led to her being suspended from Labour for a year.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP was disciplined for saying in 2023 that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.
Despite withdrawing the remarks at the time, she was suspended from the Labour party after Sir Keir said her comments were antisemitic.
In a new intervention, Ms Abbott, who was subsequently readmitted to Labour, said she does not regret her remarks and stands by her argument.
She told the BBC: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.”
