SNP calls on Keir Starmer to ‘see sense’ and scrap two-child benefit cap

There is still time for Keir Starmer to “see sense” and scrap the two-child benefit cap, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has insisted.

Speaking ahead of the King’s Speech, which will set out the new Government’s plans for the coming year, Flynn said Labour’s stance on the controversial policy – which limits benefits for some families – would be an “early litmus test” of the extent to which the new Government can deliver change.

Wednesday’s Speech is expected to include around 35 Bills with a heavy emphasis on securing economic growth, the first of Starmer five “missions for national renewal”.

Figures published last week by the Department for Work and Pensions showed there were 1.6 million children living in households affected by the cap as of April this year – including 26,000 in Scotland.

With Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar branding the policy “wrong” and saying it “needs to be reversed”, the SNP is seeking to push the new Westminster administration on the issue.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the controversial policy would be an ‘early litmus test’ for the new Labour government. PA Media

Flynn has already announced his party will table an amendment to the King’s Speech demanding the abolition of the policy, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 and prevents families claiming universal credit or child tax credits for a third child, except in very limited circumstances.

Speaking ahead of the King’s Speech, the Flynn said: “People in Scotland voted for significant and substantial change at Westminster – and that promise of change must now be honoured, not broken, by the Labour government.”

The SNP Westminster leader added: “The decision over whether to scrap the two-child cap is an early and important litmus test of whether the Labour government is capable of delivering the full scale change people in Scotland want to see – or whether it will impose the same damaging cuts and failed policies as the Tories.

“Eradicating child poverty is a priority for people in Scotland – and scrapping the two-child cap is the bare minimum required.

“There is still time for Keir Starmer to see sense. If he fails, he will be making the political choice to push thousands of Scottish children into poverty. That is inexcusable.”

📑 The SNP has been calling for the two-child cap to be scrapped since the Tories introduced it in 2017.

📣 Now we call on Labour to bin it, and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.

🥀 Starmer says he won’t – but this is one U-turn Scotland would support. pic.twitter.com/E1YkmNwnN1
— The SNP (@theSNP) July 15, 2024

He added: “The SNP will bring forward an amendment to abolish the two-child cap and tackle child poverty.

“It will then be up to Labour MPs in Scotland to vote for it – or take responsibility for the child poverty they will cause if it stays in place.”

The four newly elected Green MPs in Westminster meanwhile will put forward their own amendment, calling for changes to be made to capital gains tax to pay for the scrapping of the two-child cap.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP said: “Every day we have children going hungry, unable to concentrate in school or struggling to ascertain even the very basics – this is the real world impact of child poverty.

“And so today we’re offering Labour a positive fairer taxation that will allow them to redistribute money from some of the wealthiest to some of the very poorest. This is a political choice that they must now make.”

Last month, before becoming prime minister, Starmer said he would scrap the policy “in an ideal world”, but added that “we haven’t got the resources to do it at the moment”.

Experts at the Resolution Foundation have calculated that abolishing the two-child limit would cost the Government somewhere between £2.5bn and £3.6bn in 2024-25, adding that such costs are “low compared to the harm that the policy causes”.