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Seven Labour MPs have had their seats suspended for six months after voting against the government on an amendment to remove the two-child benefit cap.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell was among Labour MPs who voted for an SNP motion calling for an end to the policy, which bars almost all parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for more than two children.
Mr McDonnell supported the SNP motion alongside Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana.
MPs rejected the SNP amendment by 363 votes to 103 in the first major test of the new Labour government’s authority.
The loss of the whip means the MPs are suspended from the parliamentary party and will now sit as independent MPs.
Almost all of the rebels were allies of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now sits as an independent MP and had put his name to the SNP motion.
In a statement on social media, Ms Sultana said she would “always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society”, adding that removing the cap would “lift 33,000 children out of poverty”.
Mr Burgon said he was “disappointed” by the decision to suspend him, explaining that “many struggling families” in his Leeds East constituency had raised the ceiling with him.
Ms Begum said she voted against the cap because it had “contributed to increasing and worsening levels of child poverty and food insecurity for many East End families”.
Mr Byrne said the “best way” to help his Liverpool West Derby constituents living in poverty was to remove the cap.
Ahead of the vote, Mr McDonnell said: “I don’t like voting for other parties’ amendments, but I follow the example of Keir Starmer who said put country before party.”
The decision to revoke the whip is a first show of strength by the new government.
This is their first rebellion. Although modest, Labour leaders are trying to make it clear to MPs that dissent will not be tolerated during votes.
However, many Labour MPs oppose capping child benefit at two children.
Many hope that the party will make a decision in the coming months to abandon it.
A government source said Labour’s policy on capping two-child benefits had been agreed before the election – and the commitments made in Labour’s manifesto were clear.
The government has said it is not prepared to make “unfunded promises” by removing the cap.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously said there was “no silver bullet” to ending child poverty, but acknowledged the “passion” of Labour MPs on the issue.
The rebellion marks a new moment of pressure from Labour politicians on the government to remove the cap.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have also backed calls for change.
Kim Johnson and Rosie Duffield were among 19 Labour MPs to sign another amendment calling for an end to the cap – which ultimately failed to come to a vote.
Several prominent critics of the cap, including Ian Lavery and Nadia Whittome, both signatories to the rebel amendments, abstained from voting.
Dianne Abbott, a former Labour Party member and House Mother, did not take part in the vote for “personal reasons” but said in a statement she was “horrified” that MPs had been suspended “when removing the cap is supposed to be party policy”.
Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, who signed a rebel amendment, said she had not voted against the government because “none of the votes that took place tonight would have resulted in the removal of the cap”.
In a social media post, she said: “There will be an autumn budget soon and I know that myself and other colleagues will work constructively with the government to ensure that the removal of the cap is part of that.”
Despite the rebellion, Sir Keir easily overcame the first major test of his government: the adoption of the King’s Speech.
Meanwhile, Labour rejected by 384 votes to 117 a Conservative attempt to insert an amendment to the King’s Speech favouring Conservative policies on defence spending, illegal immigration and reducing inflation.
An amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats that sought to commit the government to focus on the health and social care crises, sewage dumping and electoral reform was defeated by 382 votes to 85 – despite support from Reform UK, the Green Party and parties in Wales and Northern Ireland.
Opposition parties usually try to amend the King’s Speech to include their priorities for the next legislature, but they almost never succeed.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the government could not tackle the Tories’ “terrible legacy” overnight.
However, she said Labour was “determined to make a huge difference” in tackling childhood hardship.
On Monday, Ms Johnson, who has led Labour’s calls to scrap the policy, said the government should set out a “clear timetable” for doing so.
“The question is not whether we can afford to implement vital policies to reduce child poverty, such as removing the two-child limit, but whether we can afford not to,” she said.
“This punitive policy must be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.”
Ahead of the vote, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said removing the cap was the “bare minimum required to tackle child poverty – and to start delivering the change promised to the people of Scotland”.
