Talk:Julie Cooper (politician)

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On 20 July 2015, she was one of 184 Labour MPs to abstain from the vote on the Conservative government's Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which restricted child benefit to the first two children in a family and lowered the benefit cap from £26,000 to £20,000 per household. Labour's leadership had recommended its MPs abstain, but 48 of them backed an alternative motion opposing the Bill. Cooper criticised those colleagues who had voted against the Bill, claiming a party split had let the Conservatives "off the hook".