TWENTY Labour MPs have defied Jeremy Corbyn, voting to oppose Philip Hammond's income tax cuts amid Opposition tensions over how to respond to the Chancellor's latest Budget.

Former ministers Yvette Cooper, Dame Margaret Hodge and David Lammy were among those Labour MPs who voted against the Budget resolution to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate income tax threshold to £50,000 from April 2019, despite orders from the party leadership to abstain.

Among the Labour rebels were also Ian Murray, the MP for Edinburgh South, and Martin Whitfield, who represents East Lothian.

MPs approved the proposal by 314 votes to 31, a majority of 283, as the Budget debate concluded after four days.

Labour also put down an amendment which sought to press for a hike in income tax to 45 per cent on earnings above £80,000, and 50 per cent for those above £125,000, although this was defeated by 313 votes to 246; a majority of 67.

This proposal from the Opposition followed a heated row in Labour ranks after John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said the party would not oppose Tory tax cuts for the middle class, saying it did not "want to take money out of people's pockets".

Under Mr Hammond's Budget plans the personal allowance, which is the maximum amount someone can earn before paying tax, will rise to £12,500 from £11,850 from next April.

The higher rate threshold - the income at which someone becomes liable to pay the 40 per cent tax rate - will rise to £50,000 from £46,350 at the same time but only for those south of the border.

As the Scottish Government now sets income tax rates for Scots, Nicola Sturgeon has made clear her government will not be following Mr Hammond’s lead; the First Minister described the effective tax cut for the better-off as “shameful”.

Even if the Scottish threshold went up by inflation next year, Scots earning £50,000 would still pay around £1,000 more in income tax than their English counterparts.

At Westminster, a number of prominent Labour MPs called on their party leadership to oppose the changes as they argued they disproportionately benefited the better-off.

Concluding the Budget debate, Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, joked that there was space for Mr McDonnell on the Tory frontbench.

"Even the Shadow Chancellor has welcomed our tax cuts,” she declared. "He has said that our measure will put more money in people's pockets and it will inject more demand into the economy. It's just a shame that his party don't agree with him. You can almost hear Momentum sharpening their pitchforks.

"I want him to know that all is not lost because, Shadow Chancellor, you have friends on this side of the House and there is space for you on our frontbench."

Ms Cooper, Labour chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said Theresa May had reneged on her promises to prioritise people who were "just about managing" ahead of the wealthiest in the latest Budget.

She said: "They're going ahead with over £1 billion in real cuts to tax credits and benefits this coming year for the poorest families.

"At the same time they are choosing to spend about the same amount of money on tax cuts for higher rate taxpayers, including those on more than £100,000 a year.

"A lone parent with a four-year-old working part-time could end up being nearly £3,000 worse off whereas the high earners end up being over £1,000 better off," said the Yorkshire MP.

Dame Margaret appeared to attack her party leadership's stance on taxation as she spoke against "punishing the wealthy".

She said: "We can't keep promising excellent schools, effective policing and compassionate care if we refuse to raise the necessary money through tax. We can't keep pretending that punishing the wealthy is the solution to underfunding.

"We need to have a truthful conversation with voters about how much we need to raise in tax to fund public services," said the London MP.

Neil Gray for the SNP criticised Mr Hammond for bringing forward a tax cut that "disproportionately benefits higher earners the most" instead of stopping the benefit freeze, which he described as the "single biggest cash-grab" from low-income families.

The Airdrie and Shotts MP added: "He keeps up an income squeeze on the many to pay for the biggest tax cuts for the few.

"That might have been the line from the Shadow Chancellor but, of course, they're supporting this disgrace and the tax shambles that Labour has got themselves in was compounded yesterday by Scottish Labour putting out a statement asking the Scottish Government to do the exact opposite of what the Labour frontbench here wants to do on tax."

Ahead of the final day of debate, Labour MP Chuka Umunna told ITV's Peston: "No, I don't think these are the right kinds of things to be basically making a set of income tax changes which primarily benefit high earners. That's obviously wrong."

Mr McDonnell said Labour would not oppose the tax cuts as they would also benefit low and middle-income workers.