That's all for our coverage today. Join us again on Thursday, where there will no doubt be plenty of reaction to the Commons budget vote, John McDonnell's performance at the despatch box and the smaller-than-expected but still notable rebellion by Labour MPs. Meanwhile, David Cameron will travel to Brussels for a European Council summit where the UK's negotiations over its membership will be in the spotlight. It is also the first day of the SNP conference, with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon among those speaking.

Mike Gapes, one of the Labour MPs who defied party orders and abstained on the vote, is asked on Twitter if he will be "defecting soon".

He replies, external: "I'm Labour. I'm not going anywhere."

The 21 Labour MPs who abstained were: Fiona Mactaggart, Rushanara Ali, Ian Austin, Ben Bradshaw, Adrian Bailey, Shabana Mahmood, Ann Coffey, Andrew Smith, Simon Danczuk, Jamie Reed, Chris Evans, Graham Stringer, Frank Field, Gisela Stuart, Mike Gapes, Margaret Hodge, Tristram Hunt, Graham Jones, Helen Jones, Liz Kendall and Chris Leslie.

Image source, PA

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says he thinks he has “gained credibility” in Labour’s U-turn on whether it would support the charter.

He says a lot of people have said: “You've changed your mind and we respect you for it - because you've been honest about it.

“So actually, it sounds a bit strange, but I think I've gone up in people's estimations on this issue."

A total of 37 Labour MPs "failed to vote" on the Charter for Budget Responsibility, the Press Association reports.

It says 21 "defied direct orders" by abstaining, while 16 "are thought to have been away from the lobbies with permission".

Labour Party whips have said that 20 of their MPs abstained tonight in the vote on the Charter for Budget Responsibility.

The official twitter account of Labour whips has just tweeted; "Looks like 20 Labour MPs abstained on tonight's vote on the Charter."

It's thought there were another 16 or 17 Labour MPs who were given authorised absences.

The party's MPs had been told to vote against the charter - which says future governments should balance their books each year in "normal times". But it had proved a controversial decision for the party because the new shadow chancellor John McDonnell had said only two weeks earlier that the party would vote for the charter, before deciding to U-turn.

The result of the vote. 320 MPs in favour and 258 against. That's a majority of 62 in favour of George Osborne's fiscal charter. The BBC is hearing that about 30 Labour MPs defied the leadership by abstaining. 

After 90 minutes of debate, Speaker John Bercow calls a vote on the government's proposed new spending and deficit framework. We should be getting the result about 21.00 BST. 

The SNP's Stuart Hosie says his party is "absolutely aghast" at the "shambles" Labour finds itself in over the government's budget rules. He says supporting the fiscal charter - John McDonnell's stated policy until last night - had been a "ridiculous position for them to be in". Mr Hosie adds that it would be "pretty shabby" if the change of position was to head off the threat from the SNP in Scotland. "People expect consistency, not this kind of cheap shot," he says. 

Backbench MPs are now having their say on the proposed new budget rules. A succession of Conservatives attack Labour, Mike Wood saying it would be "insanity to let them anywhere near control of our economy". But Labour's Helen Goodman, who is a member of the Treasury Select Committee, says the "pitiful" 90 minutes that MPs have been given to debate the issue demonstrate the insignificance of the measure. She says nobody who gave evidence to the committee last year about the charter, including the Governor of the Bank of England, was prepared to endorse it. She concludes by insisting Labour are not "deficit deniers" but the way to reduce the level of debt in the economy is by increasing investment. 

It is now John McDonnell's turn to speak and he begins by admitting that his u-turn over the budget surplus was politically "embarassing" but says politicians should "show a bit of humility" when they change their mind. He goes on to explain the decision, saying it was based on professional advice he received, the worsening economic outlook and his experience of seeing first-hand the plight of steelworkers in Redcar who had lost their jobs. He insists that Labour will tackle the deficit but says he wants to change the "economic paradigm" by focusing on the wider problems facing the UK, such as under-investment. Rejecting the charter as a "puerile political stunt", he says Labour cannot support an "instrument to impose austerity on communities unncessarily".