MPs are set to vote over whether to scrap the two-child benefit cap this evening, after an SNP amendment was selected by the speaker.
A number of Labour rebels are expected to vote with the opposition party as a row rages between them and the new government over whether to abandon the policy.
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While most on the Labour benches are against the measure – brought in by the Tories in 2017 to limit child benefit to two children per household – the leadership have said they can’t afford to scrap it while public finances are in dire straits.
But MPs on the left of the party say it is essential to end the policy to help reduce increasing child poverty across the country.
Posting on X, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell confirmed he would vote for the SNP amendment, adding: “I don’t like voting for other party’s amendments but I am following [Sir] Keir Starmer’s example as he said ‘put country before party’.
“So, I am putting lifting children out of poverty before party whipping.”
The SNP’s leader in Westminster Stephen Flynn also challenged other Labour MPs to “do the only right thing and vote with the conscience to end the two-child cap immediately”.
The amendment also has the backing of the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP, the Alliance Party and a number of independent MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
But with a majority on 174, the government will still have the numbers on their side, even if some of its own MPs rebel.
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The Liberal Democrats have put down their own amendment – also selected by the speaker – calling for the scrapping of the cap. However, it also calls for a range of other policies that the party campaigned on in the general election, especially around social care.
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