Robert Jenrick denied getting confused after accidentally voting to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty by lifting the two-child benefit cap last week
A squirming Reform MP has denied getting confused about his party’s policy after mistakenly voting to pull hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.
Robert Jenrick was mocked last week after accidentally going into the wrong voting booth in a crunch vote on the two-child benefit cap. He and fellow Tory turncoat Suella Braverman voted with Labour MPs to scrap the measure, which is expected to lift an estimated 450,000 children out of poverty.
He was confronted by Sky News host Sophy Ridge, who questioned whether he had got confused about his new party’s policy. Nigel Farage has previously said he backed scrapping the two-child benefit cap in its entirety.
Asked what happened, Mr Jenrick said: “I went into the wrong division lobby, and what happens is that the doors close and you don’t have an opportunity to leave. I didn’t swipe my cards, there’s also a kind of technical debate about whether I voted or not, but obviously is a mistake, I didn’t mean to do it.”
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Ms Ridge then told him: “I can see why you’re confused. Because Reform was in favour of scrapping it, and then all of a sudden they weren’t in favor of scrapping it. So, I mean, did you get confused about Reform’s policy?”
Mr Jenrick denied getting confused, saying: “Reform’s policy is clear.” Ms Ridge retorted: “Yeah, I know you know it now, but at that moment, did you not know then what Reforms policy was?”
The exasperated former Tory Home Office minister – who is tipped to be Nigel Farage’s pick as Chancellor if he gets elected – went on to say his new party’s policy is clear. Last week Mr Farage announced that if he becomes PM, only British families who are in work will be eligible to get benefit payments for more than two kids.
Ms Ridge said: “Just to be super clear, you knew what the policy was, you just got confused about which was the right lobby?”
“Yeah, I’ve been a member of for 11 years,” he said, before host butted in: “Come on, you didn’t know what it was, you got confused over Reform’s policy, no?”
Mr Jenrick battled back: “No, of course I didn’t.” But he then admitted it was the first time it had happened to him in more than a decade.
He said: “But I’ve seen plenty of other people do it over the years. I remember Michael Gove doing it once when he was the Conservative Party’s chief whip and he had to hide in the toilet in order not to end up voting. It does happen to people. Of course, it’s not ideal, but these things happen.”
No vote was recorded for Reform UK chief Nigel Farage while the party’s five other MPs voted against the government’s legislation. A Reform spokesperson told The Mirror: “They made a genuine mistake walking through the wrong lobby.”
It comes after Reform’s flip-flopping on the issue with Mr Farage last year pledging to abolish the Tory-era two-child benefit limit as part of spending promises. But he has since U-turned and said the policy to lift the cap will only be for families where both parents are British and in full-time work.
Labour minister Torsten Bell responded: “Chaotic carnival of chancers. Jenrick and Braverman vote FOR the abolition of the two child limit while the other four Reform MPs vote against – and of course Farage doesn’t even bother turning up to do his job”