SIR Keir Starmer is facing a revolt by Left-wing Labour MPs demanding that he axe the two-child benefit cap
The PM yesterday said he would look at the cap – introduced by the Tories in 2015 – as part of a review into child poverty.
2
2
There is building pressure to ditch the policy – with more than a dozen Labour MPs signing an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the cap to go.
There could be a vote on it if Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle decides to select the amendment.
Yesterday Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News ministers would “consider (lifting the cap) as one of a number of levers in terms of how we make sure we lift children out of poverty”.
At a press conference later on, the PM said: “What the Education Secretary said this morning, I agree with … We will make sure that the strategy covers all the bases to drive down child poverty. No child should grow up in poverty.”
Sir Keir also acknowledged the “passion” of Labour MPs considering revolting over the continuation of the policy – which affects some 1.6 million children.
Despite the shift in tone, Downing Street said there had not been a U-turn on the cap, highlighting Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s firm stand against any unfunded spending promises.
The Labour leadership previously insisted the state of the public finances means they cannot afford to axe the benefit limit unless economic growth is secured first.
The cap was introduced by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2015 and restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.
