Government whip quits over disability benefit cuts...

Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft has resigned as a whip over the government's plans to cut disability benefits



In a letter to the prime minister,, external Foxcroft said she understood the need to address "the ever-increasing welfare bill" but said cuts to personal independence payments and universal credit should "not be part of the solution".

She said she had "wrestled with whether I should resign or remain in the government and fight for changes from within. Sadly it now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see."

As a government whip, Foxcroft would have been expected to persuade reluctant Labour MPs to back the proposed legislation.

The Lewisham North MP said she was quitting because she knew she would "not be able to do the job that is required of me and whip - or indeed vote - for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances".

She added that she was "incredibly proud to have served as part of the first Labour government in 14 years and hope that ministers will revisit these reforms so that I can continue to support the government in delivering for the people of this country".

Foxcroft was first elected to her south London constituency in May 2015.

She previously served as a shadow minister for disabled people and in her resignation letter she said that experience taught her that life for disabled people was "even tougher than I had imagined".

Some of her fellow Labour MPs praised her decision to quit. Connor Naismith, who represents Crewe and Nantwich, said she should be "commended for standing by her principles".

One Labour MP, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the BBC: "I have heard anyone who breaks the whip won't be allowed to stand as a Labour MP at the next general election.

"These threats are just making people more angry. We cannot continue to govern in this manner. Quite frankly, if that's his [the prime minister's] view he's lost the plot and is a bully."