Not scrapping two-child limit 'a missed opportunity'
It didn't form part of the King's Speech
A former Wirral Labour MP says Labour's decision not to include scrapping the two-child benefit cap in the King's Speech is a 'missed opportunity.'
There has been mounting pressure for the new government to remove the cap, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, who said at the time that it wanted people on benefits 'to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work.'
It prevents parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credits for a third child, apart from in very limited circumstances.
Campaigners argue that the cap is contributing to rising levels of child poverty.
The Labour MP for Riverside, Kim Johnson, is set to lay an amendment to the King's Speech to abolish the cap.
Margaret Greenwood, Wirral West MP between 2015 and 2024, said:
"I think it's a real shame. I think it's a real missed opportunity because the two-child limit is recognised as the single biggest driver of child poverty and people desperately want change.
"There was lots in The King's Speech to really welcome and I'm delighted we've got a Labour government, of course, but it was an opportunity to signal that this terrible policy would be scrapped. So it seems like a really big missed opportunity to me.
"It really is an investment in the future"
"There's very much a focus on strict spending limits. However, I would argue that investing in children and and really ensuring that we banish poverty from a country as rich as that has to be a priority. But also, you know, I think that people are desperate to see that change and it really is an investment in the future.
"I used to be a teacher in secondary school and children who are hungry cannot learn. It impacts on their educational, educational development, it impacts on their health and well-being and it very much impacts on their happiness. Families that don't have enough money tend not to invite other children round because they're worried they're going to have to feed them or they're embarrassed they haven't got the toys to share that children with the homes can have.
"We really need to make it a priority"
"So it has a really significant detrimental impact on those children affected and I think that as a country, we really need to make it a priority.
"We can't afford to let it continue. You know, it is to me just about the most pressing issue facing government - and so we need to see some very strong action from government in response to it."
The Resolution Foundation estimates the move would cost between £2.5billion and £3.6billion in 2024-25.
The government did announce the launch of a child poverty taskforce in the King's Speech to tackle the root cause of the problem.
Ms Greenwood added:
"I'm really pleased to see that Labour is launching a new child poverty unit. It's got two people leading it, two secretaries of state, one being Bridget Phillipson who leads on education, and Liz Kendall, who leads on work and pensions.
"I'm really pleased that those two things are coupled together and I'm pleased to to see that Liz Kendall yesterday met with a broad range of campaign and lobbying organisations that do work on poverty -notably the end Child Poverty coalition, and also Save the Children, Bernardo's, Action for Children and UNICEF. These are really significant organisations and they will be able to very much guide these policy makers in what it is that they're doing.
"But I go back to the urgency of it because you see six months is a long time in a child's life, so six months without sufficient food or six months with shoes that are pinching so hard that they hurt, or six months without adequate clothing.
"That has a very significant detrimental effect on the child, so we need to see very swift action and very decisive action on this. I'm very pleased that that unit has been set up and I'm very much hoping that we will see an end to the two child limit, but I think that there's been a lot of people speaking out about it.
"I think it's important people keep on speaking out about it because the thing about Social Security is it can get brushed aside.
We know there have been massive cuts since 2010. Around £40 billion has been taken out of the annual Social Security budget since that time and a decent and strong Social Security system, to me, is the mark of a civilised society, because none of us know when we're going to fall on hard times, none of us know whether we're going to have an accident that stops us from working, or whether we're going to lose family members who we rely on, or whether we're going to become very ill.
None of us know those things, so we need a Social Security system that's there to support people when they need it and and the very cruel austerity measures that we've seen since we've had 14 years of conservative rule, I think we need to see an end to those.
"So I would like to see some bravery on the part of the new Labour government to say, very honestly to the public, actually, we do need a strong Social Security system because nobody knows what life is going to present us down the line."