Diane Abbott misses Article 50 vote as Meg Hillier joins Labour rebels and votes against

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington

Labour’s Diane Abbott missed last night’s vote on triggering Article 50 – apparently because she was unwell.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, presenter Nick Robinson asked shadow chancellor John McDonnell whether it was “Brexit flu”.

“How’s she feeling?” he asked.

McDonnell replied: “She wasn’t very well. There wasn’t going to be a close vote – if there was a close vote they would bring in even sick people there, but she wasn’t very well, so she wasn’t in attendance.”

The constituency Abbott represents, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, voted overwhelmingly for remaining in the European Union.

But her party imposed a three line whip stipulating its MPs should not block Article 50 – meaning the vote looked set to be uncomfortable for her.

The Liberal Democrats and Greens in Hackney had both joined in heaping pressure on Abbott over the issue.

Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, joined numerous Labour MPs who voted against handing the government the power to officially start Britain’s departure from the EU.

Hackney had a higher proportion of Remain voters than almost anywhere else, with 78 per cent of electors in the borough casting their ballots for staying in the bloc.

Many fervent europhiles have been dismayed by Labour’s stance.

“The rage in the room was palpable,” Hillier was reported to have said about a recent constituency meeting ahead of yesterday’s vote in Parliament.

McDonnell stressed it was not just Labour that was split on the issue, telling the BBC: “The fight really starts after Article 50”.

He added: “We’ve accepted the result of the referendum… What we’re not accepting is a blank cheque for Theresa May for this hard Brexit.”