By Enyichukwu Enemanna
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a move to reassert his authority over his ruling Labour Party, on Wednesday suspended several members of parliament over their “rebellion” against welfare reforms.
The Prime Minister was forced to backtrack on plans to slash disability and sickness benefits earlier this month after dozens of Labour MPs threatened to vote against the proposals.
MPs Brian Leishman, Neil Duncan-Jordan, and Rachael Maskell said they had been suspended, while The Times newspaper also reported that Chris Hinchliff had suffered the same fate.
All four lawmakers voted against the welfare reforms on July 1 after Starmer stepped down the plan in order not to suffer a humiliating defeat in parliament.
Leishman’s office confirmed to AFP that the Scottish MP had been temporarily suspended from the party.
Duncan-Jordan, the representative for Poole in southern England, said he understood that voting against the government “could come at a cost, but I couldn’t support making disabled people poorer”.
Starmer has endured a difficult first year in power and has made several damaging U-turns in recent weeks.
Political scientist Steven Fielding said the suspension was a bid by Starmer to reinforce party discipline.
“He wants to send a signal to all the others that rebelled over the welfare bill and have rebelled on other things that, ‘Okay, you’ve got away with this one, but if you keep going, this is going to be your fate,’” Fielding told AFP.
Starmer’s popularity has dropped since he won a landslide general election result in July 2024, ending 14 consecutive years of Conservative rule.
In June, the government reversed a policy to scrap a winter heating benefit for millions of pensioners, following widespread criticism and another rebellion from its own MPs.
The same month, Starmer — a former chief state prosecutor in England and Wales — announced a national inquiry focused on a UK child sex exploitation scandal after previously resisting calls.
The Prime Minister has a massive majority of about 160 MPs, meaning he should be able to force whatever legislation he wants through parliament.
But some in the party complain of a disconnect between Starmer’s leadership, which is focused on combating the rise of Reform, and Labour’s traditional centre-left principles.
