LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer suffered his first rebellion in parliament on Tuesday when several of his Labour lawmakers voted against the government over its refusal to abolish a two-child limit on welfare payments for parents.
The rebellion is a warning to Starmer that not all will be smooth sailing despite his Labour Party’s landslide election victory earlier this month.
With Labour holding a commanding majority in parliament there was no chance it would lose the vote, but the opposition to the policy showed Starmer’s hope of leading a united and disciplined party in government has its limits.
Seven Labour lawmakers voted in favour of a motion calling for the government to immediately scrap the two-child benefit cap, which prevents most parents from claiming welfare payments for more than two children.
Local media reported the seven, who included Labour’s former finance spokesperson John McDonnell, had been temporarily suspended from the parliamentary party.
No vote was recorded for a further 42 Labour lawmakers, meaning others may have abstained.
Opponents of the cap, introduced by the then Conservative government in 2017, say the policy is pushing children into poverty.
The government has argued it cannot make unfunded promises, repeatedly saying the fiscal position it inherited from the former Conservative government has forced ministers to take difficult decisions.
“The government is committed to taking action to tackle child poverty,” Starmer’s spokesperson said earlier on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
