Over 20 Labour MPs rebelled against their party whip and abstained on the government’s fiscal charter this evening. The Labour party claimed there were 20 abstentions, but the Tories claimed the number was closer to 28. This is the full list of abstentions which didn’t include authorised absences (some of whom would have been would-be rebels who were encouraged to find a speech to make or ailing relative to visit in another part of the country at the last minute) from the Labour whips office:
Fiona Mactaggart
Rushanara Ali
Ian Austin
Ben Bradshaw
Adrian Bailey
Shabana Mahmood
Ann Coffey
Andrew Smith
Simon Danczuk
Jamie Reed
Chris Evans
Graham Stringer
Frank Field
Gisela Stuart
Mike Gapes
Margaret Hodge
Tristram Hunt
Graham Jones
Helen Jones
Liz Kendall
Chris Leslie
This means that the whips, who had started the day with 30 possible rebels, have been mildly effective at whipping an unwhippable party led by a man who barely followed the Labour whip until he became the man in charge of it.
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