LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suspended four Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Labour Party for repeated breaches of party discipline, local media reported on Wednesday.

The four MPs, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, and Rachael Maskell, have had their party whips withdrawn, meaning they will now sit as independents in the House of Commons.

According to Sky News, all four were suspended for voting against the government's welfare reform bill, which passed on July 1 by 335 votes to 260. The legislation had been watered down in an attempt to quell a wider rebellion.

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More than 100 Labour MPs had opposed the welfare changes in different ways, while 47 voted against the government in the final vote of the watered-down bill.

The BBC reported that the rebellion has further undermined Starmer's authority -- already weakened by a series of policy u-turns, including the decision to restore the winter fuel allowance after removing it.

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Speaking to Sky News, the suspended MP Rachael Maskell said: "The reason I have been suspended is because I voted in the way I did. I believe I am fighting for people that really matter -- the poorest people in society."