Embarrassment for Corbyn as he skips Commons vote on his own Budget amendment that Government wins by just FIVE after DUP revolt
- Labour leader was not in the Commons for a series of Budget votes last night
- The DUP abandoned the Tories meaning votes were closer than normal
- On one amendment the DUP voted with Labour on a child poverty demand
- It meant the Government won by just five votes – with 30 Labour MPs missing
Jeremy Corbyn faced embarrassment today after he missed a series of Budget votes where the Government majority was slashed by the DUP revolt.
On one amendment about child poverty – tabled by the Labour leader himself – the Government won by just five votes after the DUP voted with the Opposition.
There were 30 Labour MPs absent from the crucial vote at 8.12pm, more than enough to have inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Government.
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at the CBI yesterday) faced embarrassment today after he missed a series of Budget votes where the Government majority was slashed by the DUP revolt
Labour sources insisted all the MPs, including Mr Corbyn, were away from the Commons with permission. There were 23 Tory MPs also absent.
But sources in Mr Corbyn’s office refused to say where the Labour leader was. The votes began more than two hours after he gave a speech to the CBI in Canary Wharf.
The party was labelled ‘pathetic’ by other Opposition parties.
SNP MP Neil Gray said: ‘This was a vote on a new clause to the Finance Bill regarding child poverty.
‘Labour had the chance to defeat the government, they apparently knew the DUP were voting with us, and they still contrived to let the Tories off the hook.
‘Pathetic excuse for an opposition.’
The party was labelled ‘pathetic’ by SNP MP Neil Gray after 30 Labour MPs were given permission by their whips to miss the vote
The votes lay bare the trouble ahead for the Government if the DUP are to flout or cancel the confidence and supply agreement they have with the Tories.
The deal – signed after the snap election – is supposed to guarantee the 10 DUP MPs vote with the Government on Budget, Brexit and confidence issues.
A senior Tory MP told MailOnline said the votes were a signal the government might not last long even if Theresa May somehow managed to force her Brexit deal through Parliament.
They said: ‘Without the DUP we are toast.’