Bid to scrap two-child benefit cap supported by MPs

A bid by the SNP to scrap the two-child benefit cap has been supported in the Commons, including by seven Labour MPs.

The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman forced a vote on the issue through a 10-minute rule motion in the Commons on Tuesday, branding the current policy “cruel”.

The Conservatives said they could not support the motion, with one MP saying the cap is “fair to the hard-pressed taxpayer”.

The limit was introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne and restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.

Labour’s Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford) and Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) were among those who supported the Bill.

Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth) and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) also voted to scrap the cap.

The Bill was also supported by Independent MPs, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Apsana Begum, who lost the Labour whip after supporting a previous SNP intervention.

The UK Government has faced calls to scrap the limit since the party came to power last year, including from charities, backbenchers and former party leader Neil Kinnock.

Blackman, the SNP’s work and pensions spokesperson, told the Commons: “If child poverty really was a priority for this Labour Government, the Prime Minister would have scrapped the cruel two-child cap on day one of his premiership. He has now had over a year to do so.”

She added: “Stop arguing about affordability.

“Scrapping the two-child cap will cut poverty at a stroke and is the most cost-effective way to do so. The two-child cap is cruel.”

She quoted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who said in July last year that children had been “left behind” for too long, with no action to address the “root causes of poverty”.

Blackman said that since Sir Keir’s statement, 100 more children a day have been pushed into poverty.

The Conservatives’ Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) told the Commons he and colleagues could not support the Bill.

He said: “We oppose it because we fundamentally believe in two core principles – fairness and personal responsibility – I believe this Bill undermines both.”

He said the cap was introduced to stop the benefits system from being abused and it is “fair to the hard-pressed taxpayer”.

Bedford added: “Removing this cap… would not foster fairness, it would penalise people we should be championing – working families who play by the rules.”

No one from the Labour Party spoke during the short debate.

MPs voted 89 to 79, majority 10, to pass Ms Blackman’s Child Poverty Strategy (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill at first reading.

The Aberdeen North MP brought the Bill to the Commons through a 10-minute rule motion, but it is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.

In addition to scrapping the cap, the SNP has called on the UK Government to abolish the bedroom tax and match the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide by raising the child and family elements of universal credit by £27.15 per child per week.

The SNP, backed by the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and independent MPs, previously forced a vote on the child benefit cap during the King’s Speech last year.

The push was defeated, with seven Labour MPs, including Mr McDonnell, having the whip suspended from the party after backing the SNP-led amendment.

Research commissioned by the SNP by the House of Commons Library showed that over the past decade, the number of children living in poverty in the UK has risen from 3.7 million (27%) in 2013/14 to 4.5 million (31%) in 2023/24.