So there we have it. The Labour whip has been restored to those MPs who were suspended back in July (in what was seen as a retaliatory move by Number 10 after the welfare rebellion of earlier this year).
Rachael Maskell, Chris Hinchcliff, Brian Leishman and Neil Duncan-Jordan will now sit as Labour MPs again.
The Pygge reported last month that the rebels had been invited in for polite chats with the new Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds and predicted this might happen – a part of Keir Starmer’s drive for reconciliation in the Labour family.
Their suspension went down like a cup of cold sick in the PLP after a No 10 source briefed to the Times that they had been punished for “general knobheadery”.
The move to reinstate them was immediately welcomed by Mainstream, the soft left group back by Andy Burnham. In a statement they said the group’s “only crime was defending the commitment to social justice that our party was founded on”.
As we pointed out recently, No 10 wants Labour united before it heads into a potentially painful Budget in which the Chancellor is expected to raise taxes.
The NS has also been writing a lot lately about the increasing assertiveness of the Soft Left. In that vein, here is the Mainstream statement in full:
“Mainstream’s Interim Council welcomes that the Labour whip has been restored to Rachael Maskell, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Brian Leishman.
“Our two co-founding organisations, Compass and Open Labour, strongly opposed the withdrawal of the whip from the four MPs, whose only crime was defending the commitment to social justice that our party was founded on. The suspension of the whip from members of the PLP must only ever be an absolute last resort.
“To transform the country and take on Reform, Labour must draw upon the energy and talents of its whole movement. Only then will we make good on our promise of change, taking action against the scourge of child poverty, tackling climate chaos, improving living standards and ensuring communities across the UK feel hope again.”
[Further reading: Is Your Party having a leadership election?]
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