LABOUR rebel Brian Leishman has lost the party whip amid a clear out of MPs by Keir Starmer.
The Grangemouth MP is said to have been kicked out of the parliamentary Labour Party over voting against the Government and criticism of its policies in the media.
Also out are English MPs Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff and Rachel Maskell, who led a recent welfare rebellion which threatened to challenge the Government's majority.
All three voted against the Government’s planned welfare cuts as part of a wider rebellion earlier this month, and all were first elected at last year’s election.
It is reported that the move is an effort from No 10 to restore party discipline before the summer recess, which begins on Tuesday.
A Labour source told The Times the MPs had been suspended for "persistent knobheadery".
Starmer was forced into a major climbdown on benefits cuts after the rebellion led by Maskell (below) earlier this month.
In a statement, Leishman said he is a “proud Labour member” and remains “committed to the party”.
He added: "I wish to remain a Labour MP and deliver the positive change many voters are craving.
"I have voted against the Government on issues because I want to effectively represent and be the voice for communities across Alloa and Grangemouth.
“I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences.”
Leishman was asked on the Sunday Show at the end of June whether he was "proud" of Labour's first year in office.
Initially replying with a blunt "no", he added: "We have done things in our first year that only a Labour Government will ever do. The Employment Rights Bill, a phenomenal piece of legislation, generational improvement for workers, absolutely fantastic.”
Duncan Jordan, the MP for Poole, has been a persistent critic of the Government, initially speaking out against the cut to Winter Fuel Payments.
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.”
Duncan-Jordan (above) has said he remains “as committed as ever” to Labour values, but accepted that voting against the welfare plans “could come at a cost”.
In a statement, the MP said: “Since being elected, I have consistently spoken up for my constituents on a range of issues, including most recently on cuts to disability benefits.
“I understood this could come at a cost, but I couldn’t support making disabled people poorer.
“Although I’ve been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party today, I’ve been part of the Labour and trade union movement for 40 years and remain as committed as ever to its values.”
Hinchliff has criticised Labour's planning reforms, which tear up environmental regulations, and warned they could cause "irreversible harm to nature".
As well as the suspensions, three other MPs have been removed from trade envoy jobs: Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin.
Pete Wishart, the SNP's deputy Westminster leader, said: "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."
