Veteran MP and Jeremy Corbyn ally Dennis Skinner was amongst seven Labour MPs to rebel against the party leader by voting for the government's Brexit bill last night.

The oldest serving MP, who was first elected to represent Bolsover in 1970, had previously declared his support for leaving the European Union.

MPs voted to give the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill a second reading by 326 votes to 290, and a Labour amendment to block the bill was also defeated.

Skinner has previously compared rebel Labour MPs who tried to oust Jeremy Corbyn as party leader to "scab miners", and was seen flicking a v-sign at former shadow cabinet members who had resigned over Corbyn's leadership.

Dennis Skinner is an ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn Credit: PA

The seven Labour MPs who rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn and voted with the government were:

Ronnie Campbell

Frank Field

Kate Hoey

Kelvin Hopkins

John Mann

Dennis Skinner

Graham Stringer

Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, said Labour rebels had "walked hand in hand" with the Tories to give the Government extreme powers.

Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan took to Twitter to welcome Dennis Skinner's decision.

No Conservatives rebelled by voting against the Bill at second reading.