"He's ruthless": Was Starmer right or wrong to suspend the whip from seven Labour rebels?

In brief…

• Seven Labour MPs were punished by Starmer for not voting against an SNP motion in the House of Commons to end the two-child benefit cap.
• The policy prevents families from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children.
• The move was ruthless, but Starmer could have been seen as weak if he didn’t act, The News Agents say.

To the left, to the left, watch out Starmer, there’s a rebellion from the left.

Or at least there was on Tuesday night. In his first major test as Prime Minister, seven Labour MPs refused to back him.

Instead, they voted for an SNP motion to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which Starmer had clearly instructed them not to.

But was his response to suspend the whip from the rebels fair? And what actually is the two-child benefit cap?

What is the two-child benefit cap?

Eligible families in the UK can claim child tax credit or universal credit for their children. It amounts to around £3,455 a year for each child.

Former Conservative chancellor George Osborne introduced a two-child cap on these benefits in 2017. This came during a period of austerity, with Osborne saying it would “incentivise” parents who weren't already working to work, or to take on more hours.

It means low-income families can still claim for their first two children, but cannot for their third or any subsequent children who were born after 5 April 2017.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has predicted that if the policy isn’t reformed, 250,000 more children could end up in poverty. It has also been dubbed the "biggest driver" of child poverty in the UK by Alison Garnham, the chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group.

But the issue is complex and is not to be confused with Child Benefit, which is an allowance paid to a parent for a child. Some MPs have mistakenly claimed that this is what the “two-child” cap would limit.

What happened in the Commons?

Pressure had been mounting on Starmer to scrap the policy.

It came not just from the rebel backbenchers but also powerful voices within the party, such as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

But the government didn't include scrapping the cap in its manifesto, and has said it will not make “unfunded promises,", instructing Labour MPs to vote against an SNP motion in the House of Commons to end the two-child cap.

Zarah Sultana, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long-Bailey and former shadow chancellor John McDonnel, all had the whip suspended for refusing to do so.

Speaking to The News Agents today, Sultana said; "I was informed about half an hour after the vote... I just looked at my emails as I normally do, and that's where I saw the email from the chief whip." Read more about Emily's exclusive interview with Zarah Sultana here.

What does this say about Starmer? Here's what The News Agents think

"He’s ruthless", says Emily.

"We’ve seen it before, he’s basically said ‘you’re out’. I’d be interested to know if he’s having regrets from here. Is he thinking that was too harsh?"

Emily adds that some people in Labour are now calling Starmer a "control freak" but "he clearly thinks he can afford" to act in this way.

But Jon notes that “if he hadn’t of suspended them, we would have been saying today instead why is Keir Starmer so weak?”

He adds: "It was never in the Labour manifesto [scrapping the policy], that that is what Labour was going to do. The whole pitch to the electorate was 'we are not going to promise what we cannot afford and what we cannot properly cost.'

Starmer made the argument to the British people that "I want to build a new Jerusalem, but I can't do it tomorrow", Sopel adds.

In an interview with Bridget Phillipson earlier this month, the Education Secretary dodged directly answering Jon when he repeatedly asked her: "Is it desirable to lift the two child cap?"

But he notes: "I think the two child cap as a piece of policy is unfair, and has damaged an awful lot of families and would be a huge move towards helping child poverty...but it can't be done overnight and I think that's the distinction.

"The left of the Labour Party clearly want him to go more quickly and Starmer said 'no I'm staying true to my word that I gave to the British people."

Listen to the full discussion in the latest episode of The News Agents.