Remaining four ‘rebel’ Labour MPs have whip restored
Four Labour MPs who lost the party whip in July for being “persistent rebels” have had the sanction removed, the last of a series of penalised backbenchers to be allowed back into the fold,Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell spoke to the party’s chief whip, Jonathan Reynolds, and were allowed to hold the whip again after a review of how they had behaved since the suspension, it is understood,The decision to strip the four of the whip came as a surprise and dismayed a number of their colleagues, who saw it as a heavy-handed attempt by Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation to impose discipline following a humiliating government climbdown on welfare reform the month before,All four MPs had been openly critical of several government policies,Maskell, the York Central MP, and Duncan-Jordan, who represents Poole, had spearheaded opposition to the cut to the winter fuel allowance and welfare reforms.
Hinchliff, the MP for North East Hertfordshire, organised a rebellion over the government’s flagship planning bill, voicing concerns about its effect on nature.Of the suspended MPs, all but Maskell are from the 2024 Labour intake.At the same time, party whips removed trade envoy roles from three other MPs who rebelled – Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin.In response to having the whip restored, Hinchliff said: “I’m pleased to have returned to the parliamentary Labour party and welcome the constructive discussions I’ve had with the new chief whip in recent months.“As ever, my focus remains on serving the communities of North East Hertfordshire and contributing to Labour’s historic mission to create a society that puts people and nature before profit.
”Duncan-Jordan told the PA news agency: “I’ve been part of the Labour and trade union movement for 40 years, so I’m pleased to have had the Labour whip restored today.“I’ll continue working hard for my constituents in Poole and standing up for Labour values – tackling poverty, raising living standards and building a fairer society.”Maskell said she was “Labour to the core and will always stand up for Labour values”, after having the party whip restored.The MP told the PA news agency: “I will continue to work hard for my constituents in York as their Labour and Co-operative MP.”In 2024, shortly after the general election, seven other Labour MPs lost the whip for supporting an amendment to the king’s speech calling for an end to the two-child benefit cap, which has been blamed for a rise in child poverty.
Four of these, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Richard Burgon, had the whip restored in January and February,Two others, John McDonnell and Apsana Begum, had it reinstated in September,The last of the seven, Zarah Sultana, has cut ties with Labour and is attempting to launch a new leftwing party alongside Jeremy Corbyn, who was re-elected in 2024 election as an independent,Sultana is among a handful of other MPs elected last year on the Labour ticket who are still sitting as independents, including Diane Abbott,In July this year, in a separate case to that of the four other MPs, Abbott was suspended for a second time after saying she did not regret her past remarks on racism, which had cost her the whip for a long period in the last parliament.
Abbott had said people of colour experienced racism “all their lives”, which was different from the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.She was re-suspended for telling the BBC that her comments “were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept”.The other former Labour MPs sitting still as independents are Rosie Duffield, who resigned from the parliamentary party a few months after the election; Andrew Gwynne, who was sacked as a minister and lost the whip after the emergence of offensive messages in a WhatsApp group he was part of; and Dan Norris, who was suspended after he was arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences.
Freewheeling England shake off the shackles to trump Fiji at their own game | Andy Bull
Steve Borthwick’s men were invited to a dance and had all the moves, reacting to a classic try with one of their ownSomething is happening in south-west London. The statistics will give you a hint of it – England have won nine Tests in a row and haven’t lost at home all year – but the sight of the way they played here in the second half against Fiji says more about what’s going on than the numbers do.England, whisper it, turned in a brilliantly entertaining 40 minutes of freewheeling rugby against a Fiji team who are a hell of a lot better than their ninth-placed standing in the world rankings suggests. The Fijians invited England to a dance, and, glory be, Steve Borthwick’s team were delighted to take them up on it. You can only wonder what Borthwick made of it from his spot up in the coaches’ row
Henry Arundell scorches away to help England finish off battling Fiji
Another win for England, their ninth in succession, but comfortable was definitely not the word for it. Only in the final quarter did the home side pull away on the scoreboard and, for lengthy periods, they had to work extremely hard for their second victory in as many weeks. They will definitely need to find another gear to see off next Saturday’s opponents New Zealand.Equally there is no doubting the fact England are finishing games more strongly and have some rare talent lurking in reserve. This time it was their birthday boy, Henry Arundell, who shone brightest off the bench, scoring one scorching try and looking dangerous every time he touched the ball on his first appearance for England for two years
England 38-18 Fiji: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
England face New Zealand next weekend, and you can join us again for all the action. Thanks for your company today.Ben Earl is Player of the Match.“It was one of the hardest games I’ve had to play in, honestly. Credit to them and to the boys for finding a way to win
São Paulo Grand Prix: Lando Norris claims pole position after flying lap – live
Giles Richards’s qualifying report has dropped so please get stuck into that. Thanks for your company today.Norris soars to F1 São Paulo GP pole as Piastri stumbles and Verstappen flops1) Lando Norris (McLaren) 2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 5) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 6) George Russell (Mercedes) 7) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 8) Ollie Bearman (Haas) 9) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 10) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) 11) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 12) Alex Albon (Williams) 13) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 14) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 15) Carlos Sainz (Williams) 16. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 17. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 18
Norris soars to F1 São Paulo GP pole as Piastri stumbles and Verstappen flops
Lando Norris is finding his form with almost perfect timing, demonstrating confidence, touch and precision when it really mattered in claiming pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix. The Briton is looking increasingly like the man who would be king as his championship ambitions were backed with a statement of intent, having already secured victory in the sprint race.His success was given added impetus as both his title rivals, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, suffered disappointment in Brazil. Piastri’s championship hopes took yet another blow as he crashed out of the sprint and qualified only in fourth, while Verstappen could manage only 16th on the grid.Verstappen had already dropped points to Norris after he was fourth in the sprint for Red Bull and the British driver now has the chance to put genuine daylight on both his rivals
Elena Rybakina sinks Aryna Sabalenka to claim WTA Finals and record prize
Elena Rybakina re-established herself as one of the significant players in women’s tennis as she closed out a week of devastating performances against the best in the world by completely overpowering Aryna Sabalenka to capture one of the biggest titles of her career at the WTA Finals in Riyadh with a 6-3, 7-6 (0) win.Having finished the season-ending tournament unbeaten in her five matches, Rybakina is now $5.235m (£3.98m) richer, earning the greatest prize money haul in the history of women’s sports. The victory marks the 26-year-old’s fourth big title after wins at Wimbledon in 2022, and Indian Wells and the Italian Open a year later
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