Boris Johnson has seen his parliamentary majority reduced after the
Conservatives removed the party whip from a backbencher who voted with Labour over the cost of living crisis.
Anne Marie Morris will now sit in the Commons as an independent after she voted for Labour’s opposition day motion proposing a VAT cut on energy bills on Tuesday.
“It is deeply disappointing to have had the whip removed by the government – especially on a matter of simply standing up for what I believed to be the best interests of my constituents,” Mr Morris said on Wednesday.
The MP for Newton Abbot added: “I believe removing VAT is the right thing to do and I won’t apologise for supporting measures that would help my hard-working constituents at a time when the cost of living is rising.”
A group of 20 Tories have already called for VAT to be cut from fuel bills, but the government said it could not allow a Tory MP to vote for a motion letting Labour seize control of the Commons order paper.