MP Rachael Maskell vows to continue supporting disabled people after Starmer sacked her.uk
The MP lost the Labour whip after demanding the party listens to disabled people over benefit cuts.
MP Rachael Maskell lost the whip after demanding a consultation with disabled people (Image: Getty)
A Labour “rebel” who was suspended from the party for opposing cuts to disability benefits has vowed to continue speaking out. Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, revealed Labour Chief Whip Alan Campbell told her she was being suspended for opposing plans to strip Personal Independence Payments from 800,000 people – even though it is now official government policy to keep the benefits, following a u-turn.
Ms Maskell was among those calling for a consultation with disabled people, which the Government is now carrying out. But she said: “The chief whip made it very clear to me … that my work on the disabled people reforms were the reason why I was being suspended from the Labour Party.” However, she insisted she had been representing her constituents who were desperately worried about the potential impact of the cuts – and would continue doing so. She said: “I brought to Parliament the voices of my constituents … of course I want to advocate for my constituents in York Central and that’s all I seek to do every single day.”
She added: “Quite frankly, disabled people are very important in our society. They don’t have agency and voice.”
And she insisted she would not change her ways, saying; “I will continue to advocate for my constituents of course.”
Ms Maskell said that instead, it was the Government that had to change.
She told BBC Radio 4: “I think the learning from this is there has got to be more listening … we have got to be that broad church that listens to each other, finds a way of engaging and debating.”
However she ruled out joining a different party, such as a potential left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn if any such party is created.
Ms Maskell said: “I’m Labour through and through. I support that Labour Party. I have been a member for so long.”
She is one of four Labour MPs to lose the whip, which means they are now independent MPs and no longer part of the Labour Parliamentary Party. The suspension is not necessarily permanent and the whip may be returned in the future.
The MPs all remain members of the Labour Party itself, even though they are not part of the Labour group in the House of Commons.
Others who lost the whip include Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff.
All voted against the Government’s benefits reforms as part of a wider rebellion earlier this month, and all aside from Ms Maskell were first elected at last year’s election.
As well as the suspensions, three other MPs have been removed from trade envoy jobs: Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin.
It is understood that those who have been suspended have had the whip removed due to repeated infringements when it comes to party discipline.
Mr Duncan-Jordan raised concerns about the Government’s changes to the winter fuel allowance before the U-turn while Mr Leishman has been a critic of the Government’s response to the Grangemouth closure.
Mr Hinchliff led a rebellion against ministers’ planning Bill over environmental concerns.
Shadow minister Richard Holden claimed that the suspensions are “a desperate attempt to distract from yet another surge in inflation today”.
Richard Burgon, who lost the Labour whip last year after he rebelled on the two-child benefit cap but has since had it reinstated said that those who have been suspended “were simply standing up for their disabled constituents and following their consciences”.
In a statement on X, he added: “Challenging policies that harm our communities, that damage Labour’s support and that make a Reform government much more likely is a key role of Labour backbenchers.
“The Prime Minister should be listening to these voices, not punishing them.”
The Fire Brigades Union have called the move an “outrageous and authoritarian act” and claimed the Labour leadership have “learned nothing from the huge outpouring of anger that the cuts to welfare have provoked”.
General secretary Steve Wright added: “”Instead of abandoning the benefit cuts that will force hundreds of thousands of families into poverty, Keir Starmer has chosen to purge Labour MPs who sought to halt this disastrous policy.”
