Northern Ireland MPs united behind SNP motion to remove two child benefit cap

Members of the House of Commons voted 363 to 103 to reject the amendment tabled by the nationalist party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

The cap, introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne, restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.

Four of the DUP’s five MPs, the SDLP, Alliance, UUP and TUV MPs – as well as independent Alex Easton – all backed the cap being scrapped.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell didn’t vote due to an issue with his flights, the party said. Sinn Fein MPs don’t take their seats and therefore have no ability to influence any votes.

Seven Labour MPs had the party whip suspended over backing the SNP motion – including prominent figures from the Corbyn era including John McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey.

It is being seen as a signal from Keir Starmer that dissent will not be tolerated.

Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has accused the seven Labour rebels of “gesture” politics.

Mr Ashworth, who played a prominent role in his party’s election media campaign but was unseated in the general election, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “They knew that this amendment was never going to pass because of the commanding majority Keir Starmer has.

“To join with the odds and sods, who are pretty impotent in Parliament, they knew there was no chance of this amendment passing. It was a gesture. That’s not how you change policy. You don’t change policy by gestures, you change policy by engaging with the policymaking structures.”

He continued: “I don’t think any of us should be surprised that Labour MPs who were … not defending the first (Labour) King’s Speech for 14 years would lead to this disciplining.”

But rebel Zarah Sultana has claimed she was the victim of a “macho virility test”. Asked for her view of the Prime Minister following the move, the Coventry South MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m not interested in playing up to this macho virility test that seems to be what people are talking about.

“It’s about the material conditions of 330,000 children living in poverty.”

She added: “This isn’t a game. This is about people’s lives.”

Ms Sultana also said she was not told by the party that she would lose the whip if she rebelled.

More than 40 Labour MPs recorded no vote, with some of those listed spotted in the chamber throughout the day, while others will have had permission to miss the vote.