Keir Starmer urged to restore whip to seven Labour rebels - 'we've served our sentence'

John McDonnell's comments travel six months aft the Labour MPs had the whip suspended aft rebelling against the authorities implicit the Tory-era two-child payment limit

John McDonnell has said seven rebels who had the whip suspended person "served our sentence" and should beryllium allowed to beryllium arsenic Labour MPs again.

His comments travel six months aft the MPs - including Mr McDonnell - rebelled against Keir Starmer's authorities implicit the two-child payment limit. Left-wingers including Zarah Sultana, Ian Byrne, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Rebecca Long-Bailey, and Imran Hussain voted to scrap the argumentation blamed for trapping kids successful poverty.

At the clip they were told the determination to region the whip would beryllium reviewed aft six months. Pressed connected whether helium had been told privately if his suspension had been lifted, Mr McDonnell told LBC connected Thursday evening: "No, I've kept successful interaction with the Chief Whip throughout, obviously, but no, we won't cognize thing until the weekend.

"But we've served our sentence, truthful I'm hoping we'll simply person the whip restored."

Mr McDonnell, who agreed to beryllium interviewed by the constabulary astatine the weekend aft attending a pro-Palestine demo, said helium did not deliberation it would "prejudice" the lawsuit for having the whip restored. But helium added: "It whitethorn hold the timing of it, peculiarly with me. But again, I don't caput that I tin recognize the Labour Party doing that."

Quizzed connected whether helium would signifier a caller enactment if the whip was not restored, helium went on: "No. I've been a Labour Party subordinate present for 50 years. It's successful my blood, this is my party. And politically it is the lone conveyance that we person to bring astir progressive alteration successful this country, surely from a socialist perspective.

"To bash that, you request the wide church, the Labour Party arsenic it was founded, left, close and centre. Don't alienate immoderate conception of that, due to the fact that if you do, you'll alienate immoderate elements of our enactment that volition instrumentality america into government."

Just weeks aft Labour's predetermination victory, the PM suffered his archetypal revolt successful the Commons implicit the two-child payment limit, which restricts parents from claiming Universal Credit oregon Child Tax Credits for immoderate kids beyond their archetypal two.

The amendment to the King's Speech, which called for the argumentation to beryllium scrapped, failed by 363 votes to 103, owed to Labour's immense bulk successful the chamber.

But No10 has continued to look unit implicit the two-child payment bounds - 1 of the astir terrible cuts to the payment authorities introduced by the Tories - since the vote. Charities person demanded the authorities perpetrate to axing the measurement arsenic portion of an ongoing kid poorness task force, which is owed to study backmost successful the spring.