Commons rejects Labour’s amendment to Queen’s speech - as it happened

That concludes our live coverage. Here is a summary of the evening’s events:

• MPs voted to reject Labour’s proposal to amend the Queen’s speech to call for an end to the public sector pay cap. Jeremy Corbyn said ministers had missed an opportunity to “put their money where their mouth is”, while Tim Farron accused DUP MPs of “cheering” while they withheld pay from public servants.
  
• No DUP or Conservative MP voted with the Labour party to include the amendment.
  
• In a debate on the issue before MPs voted, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Labour of using the NHS as a “political football”. In a direct appeal to those Tory MPs who are uncomfortable with the prospect of a continued public sector pay freeze, his shadow Jonathan Ashworth said they had the power to hand a pay rise to public servants tonight.
  

You can read about the day’s earlier events in the afternoon summary.

The Lib Dems have now released a statement on the defeat of the amendment. The party’s leader, Tim Farron, said:

This evening, the DUP have stood alongside their Tory paymasters cheering at the fact that they have withheld more pay for our police, our firefighters, our nurses and our teachers. Shame on them.

After Theresa May’s disastrous missteps this shows nature of the government we have been left with.

This U-turn on a U-turn will stick in the throat of million of hard working public servants, many of whom recently ran towards danger, be it Manchester, Grenfell or London Bridge. These people go above and beyond and yet the government snubs them.

Following the defeat of Labour’s amendment, the party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn has said:

Tonight, the Conservatives had an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, by ending cuts to our police and fire service and lifting the public sector pay cap.

“Although government ministers said they had learned the lessons of the general election and were listening to voters, it is clear that nothing has changed.

They had the perfect opportunity to walk the walk, but instead they marched through the lobby to show Tory austerity is business as usual.

While the money is there when the Conservatives need it to keep themselves in office, the rest of the country now face more devastating cuts to our emergency and other vital services.

The Conservatives clearly plan to keep working for a privileged few. Only Labour is ready to form a government that will work for the many.

Amid the confusion over the government’s public sector pay plans, the Conservative MP, John Penrose, tells the BBC there is cross-party consensus that more money needs to be spent on public services.

He was asked what the government’s position was on the pay freeze. Perhaps hinting that he believes it should end, he says the government should pay heed to the general election result.

Here’s where to find out how individual MPs voted on the amendment.

And Ian Jones of the Press Association has a more general breakdown. Note that, as was perhaps expected, no Conservative MPs voted with the Labour party.

MPs have defeated a Labour amendment to the Queen’s Speech which called for an end to the public sector pay cap by 323 votes to 309, a majority of 14.

Hunt is pressing his point that Labour want to use the NHS “as a political football” and as a way to “milk votes”. He calls the “Conservative party the party of the NHS”.

With that, the Speaker, John Bercow, calls for the lobby to be cleared for MPs to vote on the amendment:

A result is expected in about 15 minutes.

Referring to public sector pay, Hunt says that whichever party is in power must do the right thing for the economy as a whole and blames the Conservative-led governments’ decisions to restrict wages on the financial crash.

We will not make our decision on public sector pay until the pay review body has reported and we will listen to what they say, and what people in this House say, before making a decision.

Hunt accuses the Labour party of “trying to turn the election into a referendum on the NHS”, before giving way to Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who asks whether or not the health secretary will make it free for women from Northern Ireland to have abortions in England on the NHS. Hunt says he believes it is important that the “voices of the women of Northern Ireland are listened to”.

Responding, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt pays tribute to NHS workers, whose work he calls a “vocation”, not a job.

Hunt also hints that the Tories are still committed to low taxation after Oliver Letwin, a key figure in setting up austerity under David Cameron, suggested ministers must consider tax rises and increased spending on public services.

The Conservatives “can’t even competently do a U-turn”, the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has told MPs as they debate the Queen’s speech. He moves the party’s amendment and appeals directly to those Tory MPs who have called for an easing of the government’s pay freeze to vote with Labour, telling them they can hand a pay rise to public sector workers tonight if they do so.

My colleagues, Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker, have a full report on the confusion surrounding the government’s public sector pay freeze:

The Lib Dems have accused Conservatives of performing two U-turns in a single day amid the confusion over ministers’ plans for the public sector pay cap. The party’s current leader, Tim Farron, said:

The Tories are in utter chaos. They have U-turned on their own U-turn within the space of a few hours. This is not strong and stable, it is a government that is spinning out of control.

The Treasury can find £1bn for the DUP so Theresa May can cling on to power, but can’t find the cash to properly pay our teachers, nurses and police.

Public sector workers deserve a pay rise now, not for this decision to be kicked into the long grass.