Labour MP Speaks Out About Keir Starmer's 'Punishment Beating' Suspensions of Party Rebels
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"You have to assume that at some point something's going to be cooked up about you - some sort of smear - or there will be another vote, and then they will suspend you."
I'm speaking to a Labour MP who voted against the Government's recent disability benefit cuts and now fears they will be the next victim of what they describe as the "punishment beatings" being dished out to Labour rebels suspended from the party.
"I'm on a hair trigger. I know that".
"And you can go around worrying about it, but I think there's a sense now that it's going to happen, and it probably doesn't really make much of a difference what I do."
"Either I'm going to come out of the room dead, or a made man. You just have to assume that. It's the only way, psychologically, that you can continue to operate."
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Donald Campbell
We're speaking after Starmer's Government, following the reported advice of Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, green-lit the suspension of four more Labour MPs for their roles in recent parliamentary rebellions.
The suspensions, which included the well-liked moderate soft-left MP Rachael Maskell, have been a clarifying moment for many in the party.
"I think when it was only happening to the hard left, most MPs thought 'oh it's fine, it's not my problem'", the MP says,
"But now with what they did to Rachael, the soft left are beginning to realise what's really going on here."
A day after Maskell's suspension, veteran left-winger Diane Abbott was suspended for a second time over comments she made about race and minority groups.
Taken together, it adds up to what looks to many like a campaign of revenge for the recent series of U-Turns forced on the Prime Minister by his MPs.
"When something like [the U-Turns] happen, you can do one of two things. You can either say, 'what do I learn from this? How do I make sure that doesn't happen again? What can positively come out of this?' Or you go away, lick your wounds and plot your revenge" the Labour MP tells me.
"They chose the latter".
McSweeney Unleashed
The suspensions appear to carry all the hallmarks of McSweeney.
In the run up to the recent welfare vote, Starmer's chief of staff reportedly pushed for mass suspensions of Labour rebels - ten an hour - in order to force Labour MPs back into line.
It was strategy that was only abandoned by the Prime Minister after it became clear it could have led to the Government losing their parliamentary majority altogether.
In the wake of the vote Starmer promised to forge better relations with his party and described the new consensus on welfare as being "common sense".
The Prime Minister also signalled a broader intention to change course, apologising for his "island of strangers" speech, and dialling down his rhetoric on immigration.
However, while Starmer may have briefly retreated, some of this closest advisers did not.
And with some Labour MPs already signalling their intention to vote against the Government about other upcoming cuts, the Prime Minister appeared to have been persuaded to let allies of McSweeney off the leash.
The timing of the resultant suspensions could not have been worse, however, coming as they did on the same day that news emerged of the Conservative party's involvement in spending hundreds of millions of pounds covering up the Afghan leak scandal, along with the revelation that their leader Kemi Badenoch had refused an official security briefing on the issue earlier this year, because she thought it wasn't important enough to bother turning up to.
'How the Green Party Should Respond to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's N...
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"You have to assume that at some point something's going to be cooked up about you - some sort of smear - or there will be another vote, and then they will suspend you."
I'm speaking to a Labour MP who voted against the Government's recent disability benefit cuts and now fears they will be the next victim of what they describe as the "punishment beatings" being dished out to Labour rebels suspended from the party.
"I'm on a hair trigger. I know that".
"And you can go around worrying about it, but I think there's a sense now that it's going to happen, and it probably doesn't really make much of a difference what I do."
"Either I'm going to come out of the room dead, or a made man. You just have to assume that. It's the only way, psychologically, that you can continue to operate."
'Keir Starmer's Government is Sleepwalking Britain Into the Grip of Trump-Supporting Big Tech'
The new 'partnership' between the UK Government and OpenAI is in reality a sellout to the one-sided interests of US tech corporations, argues Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell
We're speaking after Starmer's Government, following the reported advice of Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, green-lit the suspension of four more Labour MPs for their roles in recent parliamentary rebellions.
The suspensions, which included the well-liked moderate soft-left MP Rachael Maskell, have been a clarifying moment for many in the party.
"I think when it was only happening to the hard left, most MPs thought 'oh it's fine, it's not my problem'", the MP says,
"But now with what they did to Rachael, the soft left are beginning to realise what's really going on here."
A day after Maskell's suspension, veteran left-winger Diane Abbott was suspended for a second time over comments she made about race and minority groups.
Taken together, it adds up to what looks to many like a campaign of revenge for the recent series of U-Turns forced on the Prime Minister by his MPs.
"When something like [the U-Turns] happen, you can do one of two things. You can either say, 'what do I learn from this? How do I make sure that doesn't happen again? What can positively come out of this?' Or you go away, lick your wounds and plot your revenge" the Labour MP tells me.
"They chose the latter".
McSweeney Unleashed
The suspensions appear to carry all the hallmarks of McSweeney.
In the run up to the recent welfare vote, Starmer's chief of staff reportedly pushed for mass suspensions of Labour rebels - ten an hour - in order to force Labour MPs back into line.
It was strategy that was only abandoned by the Prime Minister after it became clear it could have led to the Government losing their parliamentary majority altogether.
In the wake of the vote Starmer promised to forge better relations with his party and described the new consensus on welfare as being "common sense".
The Prime Minister also signalled a broader intention to change course, apologising for his "island of strangers" speech, and dialling down his rhetoric on immigration.
However, while Starmer may have briefly retreated, some of this closest advisers did not.
And with some Labour MPs already signalling their intention to vote against the Government about other upcoming cuts, the Prime Minister appeared to have been persuaded to let allies of McSweeney off the leash.
The timing of the resultant suspensions could not have been worse, however, coming as they did on the same day that news emerged of the Conservative party's involvement in spending hundreds of millions of pounds covering up the Afghan leak scandal, along with the revelation that their leader Kemi Badenoch had refused an official security briefing on the issue earlier this year, because she thought it wasn't important enough to bother turning up to.
'How the Green Party Should Respond to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's N...
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