Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh pressure to scrap the two-child benefit cap after the SNP announced plans to push for a vote on the issue in the upcoming King’s Speech.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the policy is forcing thousands of children into poverty as he appealed to Labour MPs in Scotland to back his planned amendment.
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The two-child cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, prevents parents claiming Universal Credit or child tax credits for a third child, except in very limited circumstances.
It means families cannot claim about £3,200 a year per extra child, the Resolution Foundation has said.
In a letter to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Mr Flynn said the “Tory two-child cap became the Labour Party two-child cap” once Sir Keir entered Downing Street, and it was a “political choice” for the new prime minister not to scrap it.
He said: “The two-child cap is pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty – and scrapping it is the bare minimum the Labour Party government must do if it is serious about tackling poverty.
“I urge Keir Starmer to include it in his programme for government this week but, if he fails, the SNP will lay an amendment to abolish it immediately. It is shameful and it must go now.”
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn MP
Sir Keir has previously said the cap should be scrapped, but U-turned last year, blaming the state of the public finances.
Last week Health Secretary West Streeting urged the public to “bear with” the new government on the issue, as they “clean up the terrible mess the Conservatives have left”.
The SNP was reduced to just nine MPs after a hammering at the general election, which gave Labour a landslide victory, so the amendment is not expected to pass if it is selected by the Commons speaker.
However, many Labour MPs are also opposed to the two-child limit and some have signalled they could rebel against the government on the issue – in what could mark the first internal battle of Sir Keir’s premiership.
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Gordon Brown on child poverty in the UK
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Riverside in Liverpool, called the policy “cruel, punitive and punishing” and said she would be laying an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the cap to be scrapped.
Meanwhile, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he would look to amend the budget, expected later this year, if it doesn’t include steps to scrap the benefit cap.
Other Labour figures opposed to the cap include former prime minister Gordon Brown and backbench MPs like Richard Burgon and Ian Byrne.
The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also want to end the cap, and Reform leader Nigel Farage has spoken out against it.
But any rebellion would likely need to also enlist the support of the Conservatives to beat the government, which has a working majority of 181.
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Labour will present its first programme for government on Wednesday in the King’s Speech, which is set to contain over 30 bills covering housebuilding, green energy and crime.
Lifting the two-child benefit cap would cost somewhere between £2.5bn and £3.6bn in 2024/25, according to the Resolution Foundation, which said such figures are “low compared to the harm that the policy causes”.
Figures published last week by the Department for Work and Pensions showed there were 1.6 million children living in households affected by the cap as of April this year – up from 1.5 million to April 2023.
Of these, 52% of children were in households with three children, 29% in households with four children, and 19% in households with five or more children.