Will Kate Hoey and Frank Field be the first MPs to have the whip withdrawn for <em>honouring</em> a manifesto promise?

Frank Field and Kate Hoey must be the first MPs in history to be threatened with having the whip withdrawn for trying to honour a manifesto commitment. The 2005 Labour manifesto unambiguously committed the party to a referendum on the EU constitution so it is absurd for Geoff Hoon to threaten them with expulsion from the Parliamentary party for campaigning for this very referendum.

It appears that Hoon might be backing down–there is a telling silence about the matter in the Sunday papers. But if he does carry through with his threat he will illustrate just how little value the Labour hierarchy, and net roots it appears, place on manifesto promises.