Salford MP says she 'spoke for constituents' over government-defying vote which led to suspension

Political correspondent Elaine Wilcox has the latest on two North West MPs who have been suspended from the Labour party.

An MP suspended by her party after backing an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap says she was speaking "for her constituents" who "have no voice".

Rebecca Long-Bailey is one of seven MPs who had the whip removed by Keir Starmer for voting against the government.

The Salford representative joins Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Imran Hussain, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana who have all also been suspended from the party for six months.

In a statement Ms Long-Bailey said she had "urged" the government "to scrap the two-child limit on Universal Credit", saying it was an issue "many struggling families" had raised with her.

She added she was "deeply saddened" to have had the whip removed, but voted as "a strict matter of conscience".

Ms Long-Bailey said: "As an MP in Salford, where 44.7% of children live in poverty with some wards closer to 60%, I urged the Government in the King's Speech debate to scrap the two-child limit on Universal Credit.

"This is something many struggling families have raised with me but it's also something that every child poverty expert has called for.

"Scrapping the two-child limit would lift hundreds of thousands of children across the country out of poverty.

"I support the King's Speech and support Government pledges to roll out breakfast clubs and to instigate a child poverty task force.

"I am gravely concerned however that this will take considerable time to pass through the relevant stages of consultation and indeed into final legislation. That is why I voted in favour of scrapping the two-child limit.

"I am deeply saddened to have had the whip suspended for six months.

"As a strict matter of conscience, on this occasion I felt I must speak for my constituents who have no voice in the hope that the Government urgently helps them on this issue.

"I will continue to work with the Government and colleagues to help the constituents I represent."

Fellow MP Ian Byrne said he too had voted against the government after experts told him it was the "best way to immediately impact" figures which showed 43% of children in his constituency live in poverty.

During Starmer's first Prime Minister's Questions, he faced questions from two SNP MPs over his decision to suspend those who rebelled.

The vote marked Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's first Commons rebellion, but with such a large majority, the government comfortably defeated calls to scrap the cap.

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 clapping could be heard in the chamber after the result was announced.

Keir Starmer has been under mounting pressure to scrap the policy, which restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born in most families with some exceptions.The prime minister and his cabinet say the state of the public finances means they cannot afford to abolish the benefit limit without economic growth.

Speaking in interviews on Monday, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson signalled a softening of the government's position on the policy.

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

A report from the End Child Poverty Coalition in June found child poverty rates are directly and strongly correlated with the percentage of children affected by the two-child limit in the local area.

It argued that this provides “further evidence that the policy is a key driver of child poverty”.

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