Diane Abbott votes for Article 50 after missing previous vote due to 'migraine'

Diane Abbott has voted in favour of triggering Article 50 after recovering from an apparent migraine that prevented her taking part in an earlier vote on the issue.

The Shadow Home Secretary, a close ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, missed a key vote during the House of Commons’ second reading of the European Union Bill last week after saying she had gone home early with a bad headache.

It led some of her colleagues to accuse her of having “bottled it” and developed “Brexit flu” amid suggestions the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP had cried off sick in order to avoid having to vote. Several Labour MPs said she should resign if she felt unable to be "part of the team".

Ms Abbott told The Independent: “I campaigned for remain and still believe that it is not in our best interests to leave the European Union. However, to say that because the vote went the wrong way we are going to ignore the votes of millions of people up and down the country would be a blow to democracy.

“This does not mean that we have to accept Brexit in the haphazard way in which it is being handed to us.

“This passage of this Bill has been a challenge for Labour. Our MPs represent the top six most passionately pro-leave constituencies, and the six most passionately pro-remain constituencies.

“Following the decision taken by the Shadow Cabinet on voting for the Article 50 Bill, I voted for the Bill as a loyal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn and a loyal member of the Shadow Cabinet.”

Ms Abbott’s constituency voted overwhelmingly for Remain and she has argued passionately in favour of Britain staying in the EU, but would likely have had to resign from the shadow cabinet in order to vote against triggering Article 50.

Amid a furious row about her failure to vote, Ms Abbott’s aides claimed she had been taken ill two hours before the vote and had informed Mr Corbyn’s office that she was going home. Critics pointed out that she had been well enough to speak passionately in a different parliamentary debate earlier in the afternoon and was posting messages on Twitter shortly before the vote.

However, Ms Abbott was in the Commons chamber for some of the debate during the Bill’s third reading and took part in the vote, following party orders to vote in favour of triggering Article 50.

She added: “I was in Parliament for the Maastricht Treaty, which was just a revision to the EU Treaty. We debated it for forty-two days.

“MPs have been given just five days to debate coming out of the EU all together.

“This demonstrates how arrogant Theresa May is, how much she does not want to involve Parliament, and how much she wants to bulldoze things through.”

Senior Labour figures had previously suggested the party could vote against Article 50 if it failed to secure support for a number of its proposed amendments to the Government’s bill.

However, Jeremy Corbyn issued another three line whip - the strongest form of party discipline – to instruct his MPs to vote for the Bill.

Media reports suggested Mr Corbyn had lost patience with Ms Abbott after her missed vote and warned his friend he might sack her from the shadow cabinet if she voted against him.

While she ultimately obeyed, other senior party figures did not.

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, another Corbyn ally, became the fourth shadow cabinet minister to resign over the issue when he stepped down as Shadow Business Secretary minutes before the vote.

He said: “When I became the MP for Norwich South, I promised my constituents I would be ‘Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich’. I therefore cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something I believe will ultimately harm the city I have the honour to represent, love and call home.

“It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet.”