Suspended MP claims Labour offered support for abuse legislation if she backed benefit cap
A suspended Labour MP said party officials conditioned backing for domestic abuse legislation she was championing on her supporting the government during a recent vote on the child benefits cap.
Apsana Begum, who was suspended alongside six other Labour MPs for supporting an opposition amendment on the issue, made the comments to Sky News on Wednesday, a day after the vote.
The cap is a policy introduced by the previous Conservative government, which limits the payment of child benefits to two children only.
Labour previously promised to remove the limit but party leader Keir Starmer abandoned the pledge last year, resisting calls to lift the cap.
In response, the Scottish National Party introduced an amendment to the party's King Speech, calling for an end to the cap, which was voted on in parliament on Tuesday and supported by the Labour rebels. The amendment was defeated.
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Begum said that Labour whips, who ensure MPs from the party vote with the government, had brought up the issue of her support for domestic abuse legislation when trying to convince her to vote in line with the party's leadership.
"I was shocked in the way I was treated because that element of supporting me in being able to tackle the situation around my abusive ex-husband... was actually put into the context of the whipping operation itself," Begum said.
The MP for Poplar and Limehouse had earlier said that party officials were well aware of her alleged experience of domestic abuse.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "We do not recognise these allegations.”
Begum also accuses her ex-husband of domestic abuse and coercive control, which are allegations that have not been proven in court.
Her husband, Ehtasham Haque, a former Labour councillor and an independent candidate who ran against her in the 4 July election, has described her allegations as "defamatory".
The Labour government's handling of the recent vote is being seen as an early statement of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's intent not to tolerate dissent within the party.
Despite its victory in the July vote, Labour is deeply divided internally between its leftist and centrist factions, with Starmer representing the latter.
Divisions centre on economic policy, as well as the party's stance on Israel's war on Gaza.
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