The suspension of four Labour rebels sends the “right signal” that if MPs stray too far outside they are “undermining the team” and that cannot be allowed, a senior minister told Sky News.
Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips there are “ways of going about” concerns MPs may have with policies – and there are “ways of not going about that”.
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Earlier this week Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell were suspended from Labour after voting against the government’s welfare reforms. They will now sit as independent MPs.
Some backbench Labour MPs have criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s decision as “appalling” and a “terrible look”, but Mr Reed strongly supported the move.
The environment secretary said he understands they were suspended “not for any one particular issue, there was a pattern of behaviour”.
“I think it is fair that if you’re part of a team, you should be required to play the team game,” he said.
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“You can make your views known, but if you go too far outside, you’re actually undermining the whole team. We can’t allow that.”
He added: “If people think they’re more important than the team, they need to think again.”
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Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott was also suspended this week, pending an investigation, after defending previous comments where she said people of colour have a different experience of racism than white people, such as Jewish, Irish and travellers.
It is the second time she has been suspended over the same issue, after she said the same thing last year ahead of the election, but was readmitted after apologising.
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Mr Reed said he is “very disappointed” in Ms Abbott but her suspension is “out of my hands”.
“I respect Diane, I’ve known Diane for many, many decades. I think it’s a shame she did what she did,” he added.
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Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”
The clip of the interview was re-posted by Mr Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”
