Labour urged to scrap two-child benefit cap

The Labour government is facing pressure from its backbenchers to scrap the two-child benefit cap, after new figures showed the number of children affected by the policy increased to a record 1.6 million children in the year to April. Labour said during the election campaign it would not remove the cap, which limits most child welfare payments to the first two children in families. It was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 to reduce the overall welfare bill. Kim Johnson, Labour’s MP for Liverpool Riverside, called the policy “cruel, punitive and is pushing struggling families into further poverty” and vowed to lay an amendment to next Wednesday’s King’s Speech. Labour rebels are expected to be joined by critics of the cap from opposition parties including the Liberal Democrats, Green Party, and the Scottish National Party, as well as independents.