Rebel WITH a cause12 Jan 2022 10:37
Serial backbench rebel Anne Marie Morris has had the Conservative whip removed after she voted for Labour’s opposition day motion proposing a VAT cut on energy bills on Tuesday. Playbook is told Downing Street and the whips office acted after deciding they could not allow a Tory MP to vote for a motion that would have allowed Labour control of the Commons order paper. A government insider said: “This motion was clearly put forward to seize control of parliament business, which we cannot accept.” This is the second time Morris has lost the whip, after previously being (briefly) sanctioned for saying the N-word. She will once again sit as an independent, bringing the total number of MPs taking the Tory whip down to 360.