Peace and love may be breaking out in Labour after a nasty year in which backbench MPs who had rebelled on various issues had the whip suspended for “persistent knobheadery” (according to a No 10 source quoted in the Times).
The Hitch understands that new chief whip Jonathan Reynolds has scheduled meetings with the suspended MPs this week as parliament returns from the conference recess.
It’s not yet confirmed whether they will all have the whip restored immediately, but these meetings with Reynolds don’t appear to be social calls.
One suspended MP told The Hitch: “I hope the whip is restored to us all, but I don’t know the agenda of my meeting.” Another said, “I’m not one for predictions.”
In July, four Labour MPs – Rachael Maskell, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Neil Duncan-Jordan – had the whip suspended on the eve of the summer recess. It was widely interpreted as a punishment beating and a warning to other backbenchers who might have dared to cross Downing Street.
All four had rebelled against the government’s botched attempts to cut disability benefits – though why they were singled out from the other 43 MPs who did so remains disputed. The four had also publicly criticised the government in other areas – Leishman, for example, over its perceived lack of action to save the Grangemouth refinery in his constituency.
At the end of last month, Labour restored the whip to John McDonnell and Apsana Begum, who had been suspended in July 2024 for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap. Their reinstatement comes ahead of a likely lifting of the cap, expected to be announced this autumn.
There’s a chance that Labour’s unhappy family might come together again to fight as a team before a very difficult budget in November.
[Further reading: Nigel Farage wasn’t telling the truth on Laura Kuenssberg]
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