Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP who ended up leading the revolt against the welfare bill (see 3.13pm), has confirmed that she has also been suspended by the parliamentary party.As PA Media reports, the York Central MP said she had been suspended for “standing up for my constituents” over the benefits plans.Maskell said she had had a “positive conversation” with the chief whip, adding:He knows my heart and why I did what I did.I explained there are lines I can’t cross because of where I come from in politics with my faith.

She said she was “not angry” but “upset that we are in this place because I believe we are better than that as a party.I believe that strength comes from the backbenches.”Keir Starmer has removed the Labour whip from four MPs for repeatedly breaching discipline and stripped three further Labour MPs of their trade envoy roles in an effort to assert his control over the party.Conservative former ministers have “serious questions to answer” over the secret scheme to resettle Afghan nationals named in a data breach under the previous government, Keir Starmer has said.HM Revenue and Customs has been sharply criticised by parliament’s spending watchdog for being unable to track how many billionaires pay tax in the UK.

As Richard Partington reports, in a highly critical report on the collection of tax from wealthy individuals, the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said HMRC could not say how much the super-rich either contributed to the exchequer or avoided.Commenting on the story, the Green party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:We all know the super-rich are dodging tax, but you would hope those in charge of collecting them would at least know how much the country is losing.Labour has spent its first year in government attempting to balance its books on the back of the most vulnerable, all the while neglecting to fix the fundamental unfairness at the heart of our economy.Rather than the government making more cuts to public services, it must commit to making the super-rich pay their fair share, and it must properly resource HMRC to chase the tax revenue it’s already owed.A Reform-led council is thought to have become the first in the UK to rescind its climate emergency declaration, a move condemned as “a very dark day” for the authority.

The Foreign Office will dispatch the UK’s anti-corruption champion, Margaret Hodge, to the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to find out why the offshore haven is dragging its feet on proposals designed to fight financial crime.For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.The Labour MP Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign group of MPs, has issued this statement about the suspension of four MPs.My full support to my Labour colleagues who have been suspended over opposition to disability cuts.Alongside nearly 50 of us, they were simply standing up for their disabled constituents and following their consciences.

Challenging policies that harm our communities, that damage Labour’s support and that make a Reform government much more likely is a key role of Labour backbenchers,The Prime Minister should be listening to these voices, not punishing them,After the suspension of myself and others last year for opposing the two-child benefit cap, I had hoped the leadership would take a different approach to backbenchers,Sadly, it isn’t yet doing so,To help stop a Reform Government, it really must do so.

Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.Craig Bennett, the CEO of the Wildlife Trusts which represents nearly a million nature lovers, said Keir Starmer had shown “extreme arrogance and weakness” by removing the whip from Chris Hinchliff for organising a rebellion over the planning bill.He told the Guardian:I am shocked to hear this news.Right now I am walking in the Chilterns close to chalk streams which are under threat from the planning and infrastructure bill.Chris Hinchlff was a defender of these chalk streams.

I think this kind of behaviour shows extreme arrogance and weakness from a ruling party,And a sign of weakness is when you are not prepared to listen to reasonable discussion and debate from people broadly on your own side trying to help you achieve a better outcome,And weakness is displayed when you shut down sensible suggestion because you are so nervous about trying to present yourself with false strength you do things like these to show a presence of strength,What it really portrays, deep down, is political weakness,It displays that the government is out of touch on these crucial nature issues.

Chris Hinchliff is much closer to the British public’s views on nature than the government which is passing a bill which will trash wildlife.When governments succumb to groupthink, they often go down in a spiral of self decline if they are not able to take sensible suggestions from their own side.They are displaying all the signs of bunker syndrome you normally only get after many years of government.Credit to Chris Hinchliff, he went into politics doing what you are supposed to do which is make the world a better place.Keir Starmer could learn a lesson from him.

Chris Hinchliff finished his speech without making any reference to his suspension.In the Commons Chris Hinchliff, who has been suspended by Labour, is speaking now in a “Best start in life” debate.He has Neil Duncan-Jordan, another of the four MPs suspended today, sitting alongside him.Neil Duncan-Jordan has issued a statement about the decision to suspend him from the parliamentary Labour party, saying he does not regret not opposoing plans to make disabled people poorer.He was acting in line with Labour values when he voted against the welfare bill, he suggests.

Three Labour MPs have also been removed from their jobs as trade envoys.They are: Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin.Allin-Khan and Ribeiro-Addy both voted against the welfare bill at second reading, while Yasin did not vote either for or against.Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP who ended up leading the revolt against the welfare bill (see 3.13pm), has confirmed that she has also been suspended by the parliamentary party.

As PA Media reports, the York Central MP said she had been suspended for “standing up for my constituents” over the benefits plans.Maskell said she had had a “positive conversation” with the chief whip, adding:He knows my heart and why I did what I did.I explained there are lines I can’t cross because of where I come from in politics with my faith.She said she was “not angry” but “upset that we are in this place because I believe we are better than that as a party.I believe that strength comes from the backbenches.

”The SNP says the suspension of Brian Leishman shows that Labour MPs will be punished if they stand up for Scotland.(See 3.59pm.) The SNP MP Pete Wishart put out a statement saying:It says it all that the only Labour MP who has dared stand up for Scotland has been suspended by Keir Starmer - simply because he refused to betray his constituents like every other Scottish Labour MP has done repeatedly.The message is clear - the SNP is the only party that can be trusted to stand up for Scotland.

For the Westminster-led Labour Party, it’s a sackable offence.Wishart also said Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, should say whether or not he signed off on the decision for Leishman to be suspended.Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, has put out this statement about his suspension.According to Kevin Schofield at HuffPost, the three Labour MPs who have been suspended today are being punished because they are deemed to be “actively organising against the government”.