Six Labour Members of Parliament who were previously suspended due to their opposition to the two-child benefit limit policy have urged Rachel Reeves to completely eliminate the “inhumane” policy. They emphasized in a letter to the Chancellor before the upcoming Budget that the Labour government cannot defend the policy any longer. They believe that abolishing the policy would demonstrate the government’s commitment to addressing the financial challenges faced by millions of families.
The MPs who penned the letter to Ms. Reeves include John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Ian Byrne, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, and Imran Hussain. After voting against the government last summer on this issue, they have had their party whip reinstated.
They criticized the two-child benefit limit as a policy that unfairly impacts children based on circumstances beyond their control, and they insisted that no Labour government should uphold it. They highlighted the detrimental effects of the policy, stating that over 100 children fall into poverty each day because of the two-child cap.
The MPs called for the complete removal of the two-child benefit cap, asserting that it would be the most impactful and cost-effective action the Labour Government could take to lift children out of poverty. They are pressing for an announcement regarding this in the November Budget.
Pressure is mounting on Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to reconsider or revise the policy initially introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne almost ten years ago. This policy limits Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit to the first two children in a family, leading to criticism from charities for exacerbating child poverty.
The government is expected to release the findings of its child poverty review alongside the Budget, which is likely to include recommendations concerning the two-child benefit limit. The Resolution Foundation think-tank recently cautioned that partial measures, such as transitioning to a three-child limit or reducing child benefits for third and subsequent children, would not adequately address the issue of child poverty by the end of the decade.
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, who advocates for the abolition of the policy, criticized the decision to withdraw the whip from MPs who opposed the government on this matter last summer. He emphasized that such punitive actions were not characteristic of the Labour government he had been part of under Brown and Blair, where individuals were not penalized for taking principled stands.
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