The government has a working majority of 16. But today it managed to win a tricky vote in the House of Commons that its own MPs were threatening to rebel on, and that the DUP had said it wouldn’t help the government on. The measure was on tax credits, and the government got a majority of 35.
Why didn’t Labour manage to get its act together? It has a new leader and its whips are just getting to work. I understand the Labour whips sent a panicked text message in the middle of this afternoon asking their MPs if they were on the estate. But this was a bit too late, and not enough of their MPs turned out to help.
In the end, it seems only two Tories voted against the measure – David Davis, who seems to be on a turbo-boosted troublemaking mission at present, and Stephen McPartland – with others having been ‘reassured’, or choosing to abstain – as Andrew Percy did.
It’s unfair to say that Labour will always be this shambolic, given we are only two days into Jeremy Corbyn’s reign. But the government will make the most of the current disorganisation to get as many difficult votes through as possible – and to avoid scrutiny.
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