Some of these 53 Labour MPs may have had permission from the whips to miss the vote for one reason or another, but it is likely that most of these are rebel-lite votes – MPs refusing to back the policy, but not hating it enough to vote against, or not being brave/reckless enough to risk disciplinary action.
11.38am.) He also promised a “politics of partnership”, saying that was what voters wanted. (See 10.59am.)
Keir Starmer in July for voting to scrap the two-child welfare limit, voted against the government again on Tuesday. He said:
I don’t characterise this as rebelling against the Labour leadership or anything like that. I view this as voting for the hundreds of constituents who wrote to me, hundreds of pensioners already in poverty, who wrote to me pleading with me to oppose this government’s policy.
Asked how it felt to be voting with the Conservatives, he said:
Well, I despise the Tories, and I think they are rank hypocrites. But for me it wasn’t about voting with the Tories at all. It was about voting with my constituents.
He said he didn’t know whether he would be further punished by Labour as a result.
That hasn’t been something in the forefront of my mind, but ultimately, obviously, I want the Labour whip back. I’m a Labour person. I joined the Labour party when I was 15 in the mid 90s.
This is what a Labour party spokesperson said about the results of today’s Tory leadership election vote.
The Tories whittled down a list of five people who played key roles in 14 years of chaos and decline, to four people who played key roles in 14 years of chaos and decline.
Their failure to take responsibility for the mess they made, demonstrates that none of these candidates are cut out for the job.
They’ve learnt nothing from their mistakes, and as they continue to fight amongst themselves, Labour is getting on with the job of fixing the terrible inheritance they left behind.
Poverty Coalition.
MPs have made the dangerous decision to condemn some of the most vulnerable pensioners to live in cold damp homes this winter.
Many pensioners in poverty will now see energy bills higher than they have ever experienced in their lives.
Parliamentarians and ministers should examine their conscience and the deluge of correspondence they have had on this issue from worried pensioners and back ways to mitigate the pain of the cut.
We and others have given the government a number of ways they can target extra support to those pensioners most in need. One clear solution would be to extend eligibility to those on other forms of benefit and making more support available to vulnerable pensioners.
But the Treasury could also look at a more comprehensive system of support for all of those living in cold damp homes, such as an emergency energy tariff or reform and expansion of the cold weather payment system.
4.47pm) were allowed to happen.
MPs opposed to winter fuel cuts were saying earlier this week that whips were encouraging them to find urgent constituency business that would allow them to miss the vote..
Normally, with parliamentary votes, government MPs are either for or against. This afternoon, however, Labour MPs divide into at least five categories.
Voting with the government: 347
Not voting – with good reason: At least 8 ministers are in this category (see 3.54pm), but some of the other 53 Labour MPs not voting will be in this category.
Authorised, principled abstentions: It is thought that a large chunk of the 53 non-voters are MPs who were not willing to vote with the government, but who were allowed to stay away. (See 4.57pm.)
Unauthorised, principled abstentions: This is the group of MPs who refused to vote with the government on principle, but who did not have permission to miss the vote. It is being claimed that there are only about a dozen MPs in this category. (See 4.57pm.)
Full rebels: Only one Labour MP actually voted against, Jon Trickett. Another five people elected as Labour MPs, but currently suspended, also voted against the government. (See 4.36pm.) But they don’t really count as rebels because they are outside the PLP (and may remain outside even longer after today).
And here are the results with the changes from last week.
Robert Jenrick: 33 (up 5 on last week)
Kemi Badenoch: 28 (up 6)
James Cleverly: 21 (no change)
Tom Tugendhat: 21 (up 4)
Mel Stride: 16 (no change)
There were 14 Priti Patel votes up for grabs, but the extra votes acquired by the candidates come to 15. That is because in this round 119 Tories voted. Last time 118 of them voted; as party leader, Rishi Sunak reportedly abstained, and there were suggestions the two Tory deputy Commons speakers, Nusrat Ghani and Caroline Nokes, might have abstained too.
Here are the results.
Robert Jenrick: 33
Kemi Badenoch: 28
James Cleverly: 21
Tom Tugendhat: 21
Mel Stride: 16
Mel Stride is eliminated. And Robert Jenrick remains in the lead, although Kemi Badenoch has inched a bit closer to him.
Bob Blackman, the chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, is about to read out the results of the second round of voting in the Tory leadership contest.
Here are the results from last week’s round one.
Robert Jenrick: 28
Kemi Badenoch: 22
James Cleverly: 21
Tom Tugendhat: 17
Mel Stride: 16
Priti Patel: 14
My colleague Pippa Crerar says only around 53 of the Labour MPs who did not vote with the government today were not authorised to be absent.
But she says many of those who were apparently authorised not to vote were MPs known to be strongly opposed to the winter fuel payments cut. This suggests that the government whips were ‘managing’ the rebellion (a sensible move), by creating a new category of authorised, rebel-lite abstention.
they had the whip withdrawn after voting against the king’s speech in July because it did not include measures to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Of those seven, five voted against the government today. They were John McDonnell; Richard Burgon; Apsana Begum; Ian Byrne; and Zarah Sultana.
The other two did not vote today. They were Rebecca Long-Bailey and Imran Hussain.
Source: theguardian.com
