A LABOUR minister has blamed economic circumstances for the UK Government's refusal to abolish the two-child benefit cap.
Labour have faced consistent pressure to scrap the limit since before the election, from charities and their own backbenchers.
The SNP have been calling for the measure to be scrapped since its introduction in 2017, with hundreds of thousands more children being plunged into poverty since then.
Calls to abolish the two-child limit come against a background of rising child poverty, with more than four million children now living in low-income households.
Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell pointed to Labour’s proposals for a ministerial taskforce, aimed at establishing a child poverty strategy, when challenged over the cap.
During business questions on Thursday, Labour backbencher Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) said: “Forty-seven per cent of children in my Liverpool Riverside constituency are living in poverty.
“That’s nearly one in two children and I’m sure the Leader of the House will agree with me that that is unacceptable.
“And while I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday for the taskforce, it did not mention the removal of a two-child cap.”
Powell said she understands this is “an issue very close to her heart”.
She added: “As an incoming Labour Government, we are absolutely committed to tackling child poverty and all the root causes of child poverty, which is why the Prime Minister announced the Government taskforce looking at these matters yesterday.
“We were clear in our manifesto that the economic circumstances do not currently allow for us to abolish the cap.
“Economic stability is the single biggest thing we can do to ensure that children don’t fall into poverty, because when the economy crashes, it’s the poorest in society who pay the heaviest price.”
