Harlow MP Robert Halfon was one of six Tory MPs to rebel against the Government and join Labour in voting to extend the £20 weekly Universal Credit pandemic relief funding.

The non-binding motion pressing the Government to maintain the increase was approved by 278 votes to zero after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered his MPs to abstain.

Mr Halfon defied the order and voted with Labour for the funding, worth £1,000 a year to families, to be extended beyond the end of March.

Mr Halfon said: “I have made it very clear both publicly on the media and to the Government that I support and extension to the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit.

“The vote this evening was a motion of expression, not a binding vote.

“Nevertheless, I voted for the motion because I want families to have certainty that this important uplift will not be taken away.”

However, the MP who has represented Harlow since 2010, said he did not agree with the Labour party’s policy to abolish Universal Credit in favour of a different system.

He added: “It has helped over five million people through the pandemic and I have seen how it has support Harlow residents. Universal Credit consolidates other benefits and gives people a route back into work, and out of the poverty trap.”

Sir Keir Starmer called Mr Johnson “pathetic” for telling Tories not to vote on the motion and said that “in their heart of hearts”, Conservative MPs would back Labour’s move.

Downing Street insisted no decision has been made on whether to keep or scrap the increase, and said Chancellor Rishi Sunak will update the public on the Government’s plans “shortly”.

Mr Johnson repeatedly declined to state whether or not the increase will be extended when questioned.

“What we have said is we will put our arms around the whole of the country throughout the pandemic,” the Prime Minister said.

“We have already done £280 billion worth of support and we will keep all measures under constant review.”

He added: “It’s the policy of the opposition to abolish Universal Credit altogether, which I don’t think is a sensible way forward.”

The Prime Minister was also facing pressure from the 65 Conservative MPs in the Northern Research Group (NRG), who said ending the increase would be “devastating”.

The Government temporarily increased the benefit to help families through the Covid crisis but the uplift is due to expire at the end of March, potentially hitting the incomes of six million families.

The Resolution Foundation warned that scrapping the £20-a-week uplift will lead to a particularly tough 2021 for low-income households, whose incomes could fall by 4 per cent

The think tank estimated that the withdrawal of the benefit increase would drive up relative poverty from 21 per cent to 23 per cent by 2024-25, pushing a further 730,000 children into poverty.