Lawmakers grill UK PM, Starmer, for suspending seven MPs

The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, faces first House of Commons grilling, on Wednesday, sequel to his suspension of seven of his own Labour members of parliament for rebelling over a controversial welfare policy.

Starmer suspended the Labour rebels late Tuesday after they supported a motion which demanded the removal of the contentious two-child limit on benefits introduced by the previous Conservative government.

Their votes supporting ending the cap — introduced in 2015 and which restricts payments to the first two children born to most families — is an early test of Starmer’s authority.

The new UK leader has warned there is “no silver bullet” to ending child poverty but acknowledged the “passion” of MPs who oppose maintaining the policy.

Starmer’s decision to suspend the whip from the group of left-wingers, which included former finance spokesman John McDonnell, was seen as a show of ruthlessness from his new administration.

READ ALSO: King Charles formally appoints Keir Starmer as UK Prime Minister

Recall that the Prime Minister took power a few weeks ago after his party, in opposition for 14 years from 2010, won a landslide in the July 4 general election.

The victory followed a four-year struggle since he became party leader to shift Labour back to the political centre ground from the hard-left regime of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The party in 2019 experienced its worst election result in nearly a century under Corbyn.

Starmer will be on his feet in the Commons at 1100 GMT for his first weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session, when the politically charged two-child cap could feature.

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