Cap Doffing: Why Keir Starmer’s Child Benefit ‘Virility Test’ Will Backfire for Labour
For all the talk of putting 'country first, party second', the factional obsessions of Starmer's allies remain the biggest threat to the success of a Labour Government
Keir Starmer’s team is unlikely to lose much sleep over their decision to suspend seven left-wing Labour MPs last night.
All are from the Corbynite wing of the party, which Starmer’s advisers have made it their abiding mission to marginalise over recent years.
Their rebellion over the two child benefit cap was in the end quite small, following the threats to potential Labour rebels made in advance of the vote.
However, even if it had been larger, the scale of Keir Starmer’s majority is so vast that it would take something truly seismic for his Government to ever suffer a real parliamentary defeat.
For all these reasons, Starmer’s allies are feeling unrepentant today.
Yet while the first rebellion of this Parliament may do little to dent his political honeymoon, there are good reasons to believe that his heavy-handed response could come at a far bigger long-term political cost.
Here’s why the child benefit row is a sign of far bigger troubles ahead for the Prime Minister.
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