An easy victory for Starmer but with a long-term price

As parliamentary rebellions go, this was a totally manageable one. Only one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voted against the government - and will presumably be suspended by the party. About 40 abstained deliberately, although it is hard to know how many of the 53 Labour MPs who did not vote had permission to be away.

- JOHN RENTOUL

It seems surprising that Keir Starmer should be facing such a stiff test of his authority just two months into a new government elected with such a huge majority. But he had already been tested in the vote on the King’s Speech, which was only two weeks after the election. That was a test he passed, too.

Then, seven Labour MPs mistook a new Labour government for a debating forum in which they would be free to speak their minds. John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, who used to pride himself on his advice to colleagues not to give the leadership an excuse to chuck them out, gave the leadership an excuse to chuck him out.