The education secretary has said that lifting the two-child benefit cap is “definitely on the table”, amid growing pressure on the government to scrap the controversial policy.
Bridget Phillipson, who is in the race to succeed Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the party, argued there is “absolutely” more to do when it comes to tackling child poverty, adding that she will “make it happen”.
Speaking on the fringes of the Labour conference in Liverpool, Ms Phillipson said: “I am determined and will guarantee by the end of this parliament that child poverty will come down. And the two-child limit, yes, is definitely on the table.”
The two-child benefit cap, imposed by Tory former chancellor George Osborne, prevents parents from claiming benefits for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017 – but charities have argued that lifting the cap would be the cheapest and most effective way of tackling child poverty.
The education secretary said she “understands the impatience” from MPs and voters when it comes to lifting the cap, adding: “Tackling child poverty has always been the moral mission of this government.”
“The action that we’ve taken already, like delivering free school meals to half a million more children, will make a massive difference. But there is more to do and I’ll make it happen,” she told an event hosted by Parentkind and the Centre for Social Justice.
Ahead of the conference, more than 100 Labour MPs signed a letter to Rachel Reeves urging her to scrap the limit as she prepares for the autumn Budget.
This could be paid for with a “targeted levy on harmful online gambling products”, which would “support the government’s manifesto pledge to reduce gambling-related harm and enable vital action to alleviate child poverty”, the MPs wrote.
The parliamentarians cited a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, backed by former prime minister Gordon Brown, which said reforms to gambling levies could generate the £3.2bn needed to scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap.
It comes amid reports that the child poverty task force – a body set up by the government to examine the best ways to tackle the issue – is preparing to recommend lifting the cap after concluding it is the best way to alleviate the problem.
The recommendation will put the government in a difficult position as they are already understood to be braced for a £20-30bn black hole at the next Budget, a sum that would only be exacerbated by the £3bn per year it is expected to cost to lift the cap.
The education secretary has previously described the two-child limit as “spiteful”, saying she wanted a “mandate to go further” as deputy leader and “make tackling child poverty the unbreakable moral mission of this Labour government”.
