'Deeply saddened, but I had to go with my conscience': Greater Manchester rebel MP speaks out after Labour suspension

A Greater Manchester MP has spoken for the first time since she was suspended from Labour. Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey has lost the whip after voting for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted.

She was one of seven Labour MPs to rebel against their party by voting for the move in Parliament yesterday (July 23) after being ordered to vote against it.

The policy, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children. More than 28,000 families in Greater Manchester are affected by the policy which campaigners have branded 'cruel'.

READ MORE: How every Greater Manchester voted on the two-child benefit cap

MPs voted on the SNP amendment on Tuesday (July 24). The amendment called for the two-child limit to be abolished 'immediately'.

Three Greater Manchester MPs voted in favour of the amendment - one Labour and two Lib Dem. There was no vote recorded for two MPs, while one MP was appointed to verify the counting of votes as a teller which means that no vote was recorded for him.

The remaining 21 MPs voted against the amendment. The seven rebel Labour MPs have now been suspended by the party for six months. The move means that Salford's MP will sit in parliament as an independent for the time being until the decision is reviewed.

Ms Long-Bailey has now spoken out about the decision. She said: "As an MP in Salford, where 44.7 per cent of children live in poverty with some wards closer to 60pc, I urged the Government in the King's Speech debate to scrap the two-child limit on Universal Credit.

"This is something many struggling families have raised with me but it's also something that every child poverty expert has called for. Scrapping the