Top News

Labour minister Steve Reed faced a tense live TV moment after repeatedly refusing to answer a direct question about party rebels during a Sky News interview. It came after MPs rejected a bid by the Tories to refer the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee in a Commons vote last night. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had accused Sir Keir of misleading MPs by claiming "full due process" had been followed and "no pressure existed" in the appointment of the peer as US ambassador.

Appearing on the programme with presenter Wilfred Frost, Reed was pressed over reports that 15 Labour MPs had voted against the Government, while 53 abstained. Frost asked what action would be taken against those who defied the party line - but Reed repeatedly avoided giving a clear answer.

"You say 53 abstained, some of those were not in Parliament," Reed began, before Frost interjected to clarify: "There were 15 of your MPs voted against it, that's not insignificant."

Reed replied: "Well that's how I've over 400... there's a handful of the usual suspects to be honest."

Despite being asked again what would happen to those MPs, Reed dismissed the issue, saying he was "not that bothered about them".

He continued: "I'm much more bothered about the 99% of us who voted together to back the Prime Minister."

Frost continued to push, raising criticism from within Labour ranks, including claims that forcing MPs to vote a certain way risked fuelling a "terrible narrative" that the Government had "something to hide".

But Reed again declined to directly address the criticism, instead repeating his focus on unity within the party.

"As I said, the vast majority of us voted together," he said. "You've got a handful of usual suspects that will repeatedly vote against the Government... they're not going to distract us."

Throughout the exchange, Reed repeatedly pivoted away from the question, instead highlighting Government priorities such as housing and the cost of living.

"We've got the renters' rights reforms coming in... that is what voters want us to focus on," he added.

Even when asked one final time whether those 15 MPs would face consequences, Reed refused to engage directly. "Well I'm not spending much time thinking about them," he added.

"I'm thinking about what we're doing to get homes built... what we're doing to help renters... what we're doing to cut energy bills."