The Labour party is a “broad church”, but there’s little space on its pews at the moment for principled nonconformists. The suspension of seven leftwing MPs for rebelling over the abolition of the two-child benefit cap is a curious affair, given that almost all their colleagues agreed with them. The two-child cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households. It impoverishes children, punishes ethnic minorities and humiliates women who have been raped. Unfair and morally repugnant, it is “the worst social security policy ever”, say academic experts. Ministers know this. Yet it is a truth that must be acknowledged everywhere but in the lobby divisions.
Removing the party whip was once considered the nuclear option. But it has now become routine. This will have far reaching consequences. “If we are now saying that MPs will have the whip removed – even temporarily – for voting against their party line on any measure,” posted the academic Philip Cowley, “we have changed the rules of engagement considerably.”
