Labour MP and Baby of the House Nadia Whittome was forced to resign as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) last night after opposing a bill which she says would “effectively de-criminalise torture”.
The MP for Nottingham East broke the whip by not abstaining on the vote on the Overseas Operations bill, which cleared the house with a comfortable majority.
Former leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those to vote against it after warning that it would “violate the essential rule of law principles, including with regards to the absolute prohibition of torture”.
Many of his former backbench also joined him in opposing it, including the recently sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey, Richard Burgon and Diane Abbott.
Three Labour MPs were forced to resign from junior roles supporting Keir Starmer’s front bench after they voted against the bill.
Beth Winter and Olivia Blake joined Whittome in opposing it after they were informed that if they voted against the Bill they would be resigning their roles.
But shown The Mirror’s story about her forced resignation Ms Whittome told ITV’s Robert Peston that she hadn’t resigned.
She said: “I haven’t resigned.
“It was a one-line whip to Abstain, I thought the Bill was a matter of conscience.”
She said concerns from veterans charities, and human rights groups led her to vote against it.
The reaction to her departure has been quite sobering for the Labour Party.
Here’s what people had to say:
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