Isis Smyth, Liverpool Socialist Party
Pressure is mounting for the newly elected prime minister, Keir Starmer, to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which could lift 250,000 children out of poverty. Labour MP Kim Johnson has planned to put forward an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for Starmer to scrap the cap, supported by the PCS union which organises workers in Jobcentres.
MPs from the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the Green Party have supported the scrapping of this cap. Starmer has previously said that whilst he is not totally opposed to the scrap, it is currently unaffordable. How will the hundreds of just-elected Labour MPs vote? For ‘the markets’ or for the thousands of struggling families?
Introduced by the recently defeated Tories in April 2017, the two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credit for third and subsequent children, with some exceptions. The cap should not exist at all, scrapping it would cost £2.5 billion. Long controversial, this policy removes thousands of pounds per year of vital support for children, with one in ten children affected. Whilst claiming to promote fairness in the benefit system, this cruel policy causes and exacerbates child poverty.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told the public that we must “bear with” the government when it comes to scrapping the cap, that we need to wait for growth before we can afford it. But thousands of families across the country can’t wait!
This won’t come as a shock to many who recall Labour councillors carrying out Tory cuts for years with little to no opposition. We need benefits that we can live on, including scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
