Abstaining Labour MP’s Had Two Choices If They Did Not Want To Support Amendment in Winter Fuel Allowance Bill

It is no longer accepted in The Commons for MP’s to defy the Whips. It is no longer about conscience or the needs of a constituency. Now it is about choosing to be on the inside or the outside of a political party. To impact from within or be persona non grata as the machine pulls the rug from beneath you.

The impact upon MP’s, especially new ones, can be quite traumatic.

1. Loss of Party Support: The MP no longer receives support from their party in Parliament, including advice, briefings, or participation in party meetings. They also lose the backing of party machinery, including assistance with constituency matters and re-election campaigns.
2. Voting Independence: Without the whip, the MP becomes an independent and is no longer bound by the party’s instructions on how to vote. They can vote according to their own views or those of their constituents rather than being obligated to follow the party line.
3. Exclusion from Committees and Roles: MPs who have the whip removed may lose their position on parliamentary committees or other official roles they held on behalf of the party, such as ministerial or shadow ministerial positions.
4. Isolation: An MP without the whip often faces political isolation, as they are neither fully integrated into their former party nor able to participate in the work and decisions of other parties.
5. Impact on Re-Election: Being without the whip can harm an MP’s chances of re-election, as they are unlikely to be selected by the party to stand as a candidate in future elections.
6. Reinstatement Possibility: In some cases, the removal of the whip is temporary, and the MP may have the whip restored if they resolve their differences with the party.

This action is a serious political consequence and often signals a significant rift between the MP and their party.

As a result many MP’s will attempt to find other ways of making their feelings clear. They can either abstain or tactically not turn up to vote. Usually the latter takes place following a conversation with the whip who allows it. However, the whip decides and will not be so forgiving going forward.

The following have chosen to abstain on the Bill for Winter Fuel Payments in preference to voting against the government, not because they wanted to but because they would argue that it is better to be an insider chipping away than an outsider and ignored.

Moving forward we must closely monitor how MP’s vote and make our judgements.

In respect to the Conservatives who spent fourteen years hammering people via austerity to now adopt the stance of opposing the cuts is merely opportunistic and a damning example of hypocrisy. Their destruction of the economic and social fabric of this country must never be forgotten. What is sad is that the Labour Party, instead of raising the money from the richest with a 1% hike in taxation chose to hit the vulnerable and send millions of people into poverty. The Tories and the Labour Party are not supposed to be the same but they pretty much are.

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