Government face vote on controversial two-child benefit cap, as pressure mounts on PM to scrap it

MPs will vote later on an amendment calling for the two-child cap on Child Benefit to be scrapped- our Political Reporter Jasmine Cameron Chileshe explains

The new Labour government is facing the threat of its first backbench revolt, as MPs prepare to vote on the controversial two-child benefit cap.

Keir Starmer has been under mounting pressure to scrap the policy, which restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born in most families with some exceptions.

The prime minister and his cabinet say the state of the public finances means they cannot afford to abolish the benefit limit without economic growth.

The cap affects some 1.6 million children, and as child poverty rates rise, the PM has faced calls from charities, opposition parties and some of his own backbench MPs to scrap the limit.

The Commons Speaker has selected an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the cap to be axed, and left-wing Labour MPs are expected to weigh in further to a debate.

MPs will vote on the proposed change on Tuesday evening. While the government are not expected to lose the vote due to their large majority, it will be the first test to see how many backbench Labour MP's rebel.

The SNP amendment is understood to have the support of former Labour leader and now Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn, some other left-wing Labour backbenchers, and Green and Plaid Cymru MPs.

The cap was introduced by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2015.

Mum of five Rebecca says the two-child benefit cap has a big effect on her family's life

Rebecca Claydon is a mother of five, and says the cap "couldn't have come at a worse time" for her family when it was introduced.

One of her children was in hospital with a brain tumour at the time, and the family also lost their house because of rising living costs.

"Whilst I was trying to support my son, I also had the stress of finding somewhere else to live", Rebecca told ITV News.

She said the cap has a huge impact on their family: "The kids have to go without a lot of the basic things. I think the kids are suffering more than the adults to be honest, even though the bills are addressed to us."

Joe Lane, Head of Policy and Research and Action for Children told ITV News lifting the cap could also "lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty overnight."

He urged the government to take action and scrap the cap: "The costs of having children grow up in poverty outweigh the costs of lifting them out of poverty", he said.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn urged Scottish Labour MPs to back the party’s amendment to remove the cap.

“Keir Starmer must not fail his first major test in Government by refusing to scrap the cap," he said.

"It is the bare minimum required to tackle child poverty – and to begin to deliver the change that people in Scotland were promised."

Labour’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he would vote for the SNP change.

In a video posted to X, he said: “37 Labour MPs like me put forward our own amendment to scrap the two-child limit, but that won’t be called. So the only opportunity we’ll have to vote on the two-child limit will be on an SNP motion.

“I’ll be voting for the SNP amendment. I don’t like voting for other parties’ amendments but but I’m following Keir Starmer’s example as he said put country before party. So I’m putting lifting children out of poverty before party whipping or anything like that.”

Kim Johnson and Rosie Duffield are also among the Labour MPs who have urged Starmer to change tack, while Conservative Suella Braverman spoke on Monday to support scrapping the limit.

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She said: “Now, I know about the argument ‘don’t have children if you can’t afford them’. For me that’s not compassionate. It’s not fair. It’s not the right thing to do.”

Speaking in interviews on Monday, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson signalled a softening of the government's position on the policy.

Phillipson said the possible scrapping of the limit would be looked at by a new taskforce she is leading with Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall as part of a review of potential policies to reduce child poverty.

In a speech at the Farnborough International Airshow, Starmer was asked about the pressure to scrap the two-child limit, saying "it's good we're having a debate about it."

The PM said "I'm not surprised there's a real passion about this in the Labour Party."

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