PRIME Minister Keir Starmer is facing his first rebellion since winning the General Election due to his support for the two-child benefit cap.
An SNP amendment to the King’s Speech announcement, which will be voted on on Tuesday, asks MPs to “call on the Government, as a vital first step in tackling child poverty, to immediately abolish the two-child limit”.
Starmer and his Labour government have defended the two-child cap, which was brought in by the Tories, but MPs within the party – including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell – have said they will back the SNP amendment aiming to have it scrapped.
So what is the two-child benefit cap? And why is it so controversial?
What is the two-child benefit cap?
The two-child benefit cap is a policy brought in by the Tory-run UK government in 2015 which limits the benefits a person can claim for their third or subsequent children. It first came into effect in 2017, and is still being rolled out.
The cap currently affects around two-fifths of all families with three children or more – a number which will grow as the final third of the policy is rolled out, according to The Resolution Foundation. The charity said a total of 1.6 million children are directly impacted.
There are exceptions to the policy, such as if it can be proved that the third child is a product of rape.
However, this “rape clause” has proven incredibly controversial as it stigmatises children and forces women to try and prove to the UK Government that they were a victim of rape – an area where criminal prosecution is notoriously low.
Other exceptions exist, such as for adopted children and children born in a multiple birth.
Why are Labour having trouble with the cap?
Labour are finding themselves in controversy due their decision to keep the cap in place despite strong criticism from some of the party’s top brass while they were in opposition.
In 2020, now-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the cap was “obscene and inhumane” and that it “must go”.
However, now she is in government, Rayner has insisted that Labour “will not make unfunded spending commitments” and defended keeping the cap in place.
Starmer also called for the “punitive” two-child cap to be scrapped in 2020, but has since U-turned and defended the policy.
Other Labour MPs who had spoken out against the two-child limit are instead now looking to rebel against Starmer’s decision to keep it in place.
There are questions for Scottish Labour MPs, who as a group claim to support the removal of the two-child cap.
Anas Sarwar, their nominal leader, said earlier in July that the cap is “wrong [and] needs to be reversed”, but most Scottish Labour MPs are expected to ignore him and instead vote as Starmer instructs them.
How much would it cost to scrap the two-child limit?
Estimates on how much it would cost to scrap the two-child benefit cap vary, but the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has said that ending it would cost £1.7 billion per year and lift 300,000 children out of poverty.
The Resolution Foundation has said it would cost £2.5bn to scrap the cap "today", which would "rise to around £3.6bn a year, as more families are affected".
In Labour’s General Election manifesto, they projected a surplus of £2.5bn, leading to calls for them to fund the scrapping of the policy.
It is believed that it would be the single most efficient, and cost-effective, way to reduce child poverty across the UK.
