Exclusive

Rebel MP who was suspended by Labour over two-child benefit cap vote claims she was ‘bullied’ by party whips

24 July 2024, 18:26 | Updated: 24 July 2024, 21:18

Suspended Labour MP Apsana Begum speaks to Andrew Marr following the two-child benefit vote

Kieran Kelly

By Kieran Kelly

A rebel MP who was suspended by Sir Keir Starmer for defying the Labour whip and voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap has told LBC she was 'bullied' by party whips.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The SNP brought an amendment to the King's Speech to scrap the cap, which limits parents' benefits to their first two children - a Tory policy.

Seven Labour rebels voted for the amendment: former Chancellor John McDonnell, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long Bailey and Zarah Sultana.

“I was spoken to while I was in the chamber and I was spoken to again before the votes. I was shocked by the tone and the tenor of the whipping operation,” Ms Begum, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse, told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr.

“The weeks leading up until this point, there hadn't really been anything of this nature at all and I was contacted and I was spoken to in person, in the chamber, whilst I was waiting to speak.”

She added: “The whipping operation was very aggressive.”

Ms Begum also claimed Labour's support of her against her ex-husband - who stood against her in the election - was brought up during conversations with party whips.

Asked if she felt bullied by the whips, Ms Begum said: “Yes, it definitely felt like that. I’ve just run in an election in which my ex-husband was standing against me, I’ve been forthcoming about my experiences of domestic abuse and coercive control and I really felt my experiences were being weaponised against me in this situation and that was very shocking.

“The fact of saying, supporting me in regards to my ex-husband being discussed in the context of a whipping operation…is unacceptable.”

Her ex-husband Ehtasham Haque has called the domestic abuse claims "false and defamatory".

"I completely deny that at any stage I behaved inappropriately towards Apsana Begum during our marriage," he said.

Read More: Keir Starmer suspends seven rebel Labour MPs who voted to get rid of two-child benefit cap

Read More: Starmer and Sunak play nice in Labour leader's first Prime Minister's Questions

No10 have claimed the rebel MPs were suspended given that it was an amendment to the King's Speech.

“This wasn’t a vote against a Labour plan…it was an amendment to enhance it,” Ms Begum added.

“We do not recognise these allegations.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these allegations.”

"The party supported Ms Begum through the difficult and sensitive private matters referenced."

A Labour source told LBC: "We would encourage anyone with a complaint to make this via our standard procedures. No evidence has been provided to the party which corroborates the serious nature of these allegations.

Another MP who was suspended by Labour for rebelling and voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, Ms Sultana, told Global's the News Agents ‘no one spoke to me from the Whip’s Office or the Labour leadership about the vote’.

“I'm not in Parliament to play factional games. For me, this is about child poverty, and we can't lose sight of what is a real crisis in our country,” Ms Sultana told the News Agents.

“And I made it clear that I would vote for any selected amendment that called for the scrapping of the two-child benefit card. And any kind of accusation that says this is games, and this is people playing games, I have to call out.”

Jeremy Corbyn reacts to Labour rebellion over two-child benefit cap

Many Labour MPs oppose the cap, but it has been estimated that getting rid of it would cost taxpayers £3 billion per year - and the government has said they are unwilling to break their strict fiscal rules to fund new measures.

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said in response to the vote failing: "Tonight, the Labour Party has failed its first major test in government.

"Labour MPs had the opportunity to deliver meaningful change from years of Tory misrule by immediately lifting thousands of children out of poverty - they have made a political choice not to do so.

"This is now the Labour government's two child cap - and it must take ownership of the damage it is causing, including the appalling levels of poverty in the UK.

"The SNP will campaign vigorously for the cap to be abolished at the earliest opportunity. It is the very worst of Westminster's welfare cuts, and every day it remains more children suffer.

"The Labour government has a moral duty to go much further and faster to tackle child poverty. Scrapping the cap is the bare minimum we should expect."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Thomas Tuchel, Head Coach of England, celebrates following the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifier between England and Latvia at Wembley Stadium on March 24, 2025 in London, England.

Brilliant James free kick sees England continue 100% record under Tuchel after 3-0 win over Latvia

The most common cause of death among victims of domestic abuse was suspected suicide for the second year running, a new report shows.

More domestic abusers to be charged with manslaughter after partner ends own life, police say

Chris Stark attends The BRIT Awards 2025 at Intercontinental Hotel on March 01, 2025.

Capital Breakfast presenter Chris Stark reveals testicular cancer diagnosis, urging men to ‘check themselves’

Hamdan Ballal holds his Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for "No Other Land" during the 97th Annual Academy Awards.

Oscar-winning Palestinian director attacked by mob of Jewish settlers and arrested by Israeli military

Flights resume as Heathrow re-opens at Heathrow on March 22, 2025 in London, England.

Over 90 airlines threaten Heathrow with legal action after airport shut down due to substation fire

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, from left, US President Donald Trump, and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense.

Trump's team make MAGA mistake after revealing secret war plans to journalist accidentally added to group chat

Amen T

Second boy charged with murder of 15-year-old found dead in Glasgow street

University students march across Galata bridge during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and jailed

More than 1,000 arrested as protests continue to sweep Istanbul after Erdogan rival detained on corruption charges

Emergency services at the scene after an explosion at a building thought to be a gas leak, in Via Pio Foà and Via Vitellia, in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025.

Scottish tourist hospitalised with severe burns after explosion destroys three-storey building in Rome

Police hunting the alpaca attacker were seen at the scene on Sunday after four animals killed.

Police hunt alpaca attacker after four animals killed with fifth 'shot in the face' in 'highly distressing' incident

Ant Middleton gives a speech at the Reform Party 2024 Conference

TV star Ant Middleton banned as director at own company over £1m unpaid tax

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak during joint press conference with Czech Rebublic's President Petr Pavel in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky).

Zelenskyy claims US officials influenced by Russia - as Kremlin confirms Putin portrait gift to Trump

Bayford won a whopping £148million EuroMillions jackpot with then-wife Gillian in 2012.

EuroMillions jackpot winner scraps plans to build children's theme park on country estate

d

Three gangsters guilty of botched bid to murder mastermind behind Britain's biggest robbery

Annie Kilner has admitted having mobile phone behind wheel of her £70,000 Mercedes

Kyle Walker's wife fined after pleading guilty to using phone behind wheel of her car

University of London Queen Mary College Queens Building in Mile End Road London

Students left horrified after camera discovered under desk at university