MP Apsana Begum says Labour party treatment of her during removal of whip was ‘absolutely shocking’
Apsana Begum has accused the government of making her feel that their ‘support for [her] as a survivor of domestic abuse was contingent on how [she] was voting’ in the vote over scrapping the ‘two child benefits cap’ in the Commons on Tuesday night
In 2020, Begum alleged that she had experienced domestic abuse during her marriage, which ended in 2015. It is understood that the Labour Party provided some support for Ms Begum through the difficult and sensitive private matters in question.
On Tuesday, Begum had the Labour whip withdrawn for an initial period of six months after which time the decision will be reviewed. She is one of seven MPs who had the whip withdrawn after voting in support of scrapping the ‘two-child benefit cap.’
In an interview with Times Radio on Wednesday, she described the whipping operation as ‘absolutely shocking’, claiming that ‘supporting me with my ex-husband was raised in the context of the conversation’.
‘I’ve just had to run in an election in which my ex-husband was standing against me, and feeling like my experiences were being weaponised against me in this situation during the whipping operation was absolutely shocking’.
In May, Apsana Begum’s ex-husband stood against her as an independent candidate in her seat of Poplar and Limehouse. He won 4554 votes; she won 18,535, keeping her seat with a majority of 12,560.
She also said that voting against the government ‘was a very difficult thing to do, because of the pressure I was under not to do it and of course, I am now facing the consequences’.
On Wednesday evening she told Sky that her vote was not ‘against the government’ but rather ‘for’ a policy that her constituents would expect her to support.
It isn’t the first time that Apsana Begum has claimed that the Labour Party have let her down in relation to her experience of domestic violence: in 2022 she told Novara Media: ‘Keir Starmer’s leadership facilitated my abuser’.
In response to her comments on Wednesday a Labour Party spokesperson said: ‘We do not recognise these allegations’.
