Only a small band of Labour MPs rebelled yesterday against Ed Miliband's backing for Chancellor George Osborne's cruel cap on welfare benefits.

Just 13 Labour members ventured into the No lobby during a Commons vote on the permanent cap, which Mr Osborne has set at £119.5 billion for next year.

Some others abstained as the cap was voted through by 520 votes to 22, a massive majority of 498.

But most of Mr Miliband's party tamely joined Tories and Lib Dems in supporting the cap, which applies to all benefits except the state pension and jobseeker's allowance.

Leading Labour backbencher Diane Abbott was among MPs voting against after she roasted members on both sides of the house for engaging in parliamentary high jinks during the debate.

Members of the public watching the debate would see MPs jeering and laughing as they discussed social security and peoples' lives as if it were a parliamentary game, she complained.

"This is not a game. This is people's lives."

The welfare cap would force poor people to live on even less. It was arbitrary and bore no relationship to need.

"The Chancellor does not say many things that are correct.

"But he is correct to say that voting for this cap locks us in to the coalition cuts," said Ms Abbott.

Labour rebels included Jeremy Corbyn and Katy Clark, who acted as tellers for the Noes.

Among others voting against were Dennis Skinner, John McDonnell and Tom Watson.

Plaid Cymru and SNP MPs also voted against the cap, along with Respect MP George Galloway.

Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards condemned Labour MPs who voted for the "ill-judged and immoral" welfare cap.

"This is a great betrayal," he said. "They are signing up to the Tories' ideological strategy."

Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls declared that his party's support for Mr Osborne's cap was in line with party leader Ed Miliband's call last year for an overall cap on social security spending.

Mr Balls claimed that a Labour cap would be better than the Tory one, since it would involve "different and fairer choices to keep the social security bill under control."

He said Labour would end winter fuel allowances for the "richest 5 per cent of pensioners" and scrap the bedroom tax.