South Tyneside’s MPs rebel against Keir Starmer over Privileges Committee motion
South Tyneside’s MPs have broken Labour ranks and rebelled against the Prime Minister during the Privileges Committee vote.
Both of South Tyneside’s MPs rebelled against the government to vote in favour of referring the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee.
The motion was tabled by the Conservative Party who called for the referral to investigate whether Sir Keir Starmer had misled the House over appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as the US ambassador.
In response to the motion, the Labour Party issued a three-line whip to order their MPs to vote against the motion.
The three-line whip is the strictest requirement to vote a certain way and MPs could face serious consequences if they defy the wishes of their party.
Despite the three-line whip, Emma Lewell, South Shields MP, and Kate Osborne, Jarrow and Gateshead East MP, were among 15 Labour MPs to rebel against the government and vote in favour of the motion.
Ultimately the motion was voted down by a majority of 112, with 223 in favour and 335 against.
In voting against the wishes of the government, Ms Lewell and Ms Osborne now face potential repercussions which could see them having the “whip removed” - meaning they would sit as independents in the House of Commons.
Ms Lewell spoke during the House of Commons debate on Tuesday, April 28, about how she would be defying the government and highlighted the increasing levels of abuse that she is facing in the wake of the Mandelson scandal.
Following the vote, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Labour MPs of being complicit in a “cover-up”, saying they would “rue the day” they voted against an inquiry.