Keir Starmer suspends Scottish Labour MP after benefit cuts rebellion

Keir Starmer has suspended four MPs over their rebellion against the Government.

Scottish Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth Brian Leishman has lost the Labour whip in a crackdown on party discipline.

The MP, who was elected last year, was part of a rebellion against the UK Government’s flagship welfare reforms, and has also criticised its response to the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in his constituency.

At least three other Labour MPs have had the whip suspended – Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Chris Hinchcliff.

Losing the whip means an MP sits as an independent, and loses access to certain privileges and support, but remains a party member.

It is understood that the four MPs met with the chief whip on Wednesday and were told they are having the whip suspended due to repeated breaches of Party discipline, pending a future review.

Three other MPs – Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin – have lost their roles as trade envoys.

STV News has approached the Labour Party for comment. Leishman’s office said he had the whip “temporarily suspended”.

In a statement, he told STV News: “I am a proud Labour member, and I remain committed to the party.

“I wish to remain a Labour MP and deliver the positive change many voters are craving.

“I have voted against the Government on issues because I want to effectively represent and be the voice for communities across Alloa and Grangemouth. I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences.

“It is the honour of my life to be the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, and my priority remains representing and fighting for constituents, whether they voted for me or not.”

SNP Westminster deputy leader Pete Wishart MP said Leishman had been suspended because he “refused to betray his constituents like every other Scottish Labour MP has done repeatedly”.

“This extraordinary move also raises serious questions for Scottish Labour branch manager Anas Sarwar who has zero credibility after rolling over on every damaging decision since the election – from the winter fuel and disability cuts, to the betrayal of Waspi women and children in poverty,” Wishart said.

“Did Mr Sarwar give permission to suspend one of his MPs – and was he even asked? Or was it another decision imposed by Downing Street.”

Brian Leishman was a rebel with a cause

Insight Paris Gourtsoyannis Westminster Correspondent

Within months of being elected, after confirmation of the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, Brian Leishman loudly called for more action from the UK Government to save the jobs, including nationalising the plant.

In the months that followed, Leishman became increasingly critical as the closure eventually went ahead, without the action he wanted.

His outspoken campaigning on Grangemouth rankled colleagues and government whips, but was tolerated.

Fellow Scottish Labour MPs wondered why he didn’t declare victory after the UK Government announced £200m of funding for Grangemouth, helping to guarantee workers’ salaries for over a year.

The contentious vote on welfare reform that changed things. The government was taken by surprise by the scale of a rebellion that eventually forced ministers into an embarrassing U-turn.

It was by some accounts a rebellion without clear leadership. Now, in the government’s eyes at least, they have found the ringleaders.

This isn’t the first time that Labour rebels have been punished. An early wave of suspensions following a vote on the two-child benefit cap included a certain Jeremy Corbyn, who is now planning to launch his own left-wing party.

Some of those suspended rebels, very much made up of the ‘usual suspects’, have found their way back into the Labour fold.

Others, including John McDonnell, remain in the wilderness as independent MPs. So there’s no guarantee as things stand that Leishman’s suspension will be “temporary”.

There’s also a question over how these suspensions will be regarded by loyal Labour MPs. Given the government U-turned over welfare reform, some might think this is a sign of vindictiveness, rather than strength.