Sir Keir Starmer is facing a furious backlash from Labour MPs over plans to uphold the Tories’ two-child benefit cap.
In the Labour leader’s latest U-turn, which has been condemned by backbenchers and shadow ministers, Sir Keir backtracked on plans to scrap the policy brought in by then-chancellor George Osborne.
One Labour MP told The Independent the U-turn would be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”, sparking condemnation from all wings the party. And a shadow minister said the move was “extremely disheartening”.
The two-child benefit cap has previously been described by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner as “obscene and inhumane” and by shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth as “heinous”.
Sir Keir himself previously said scrapping the policy was one of his “ideas to tackle the vast social injustice in our country”.
But asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg if he would scrap the cap, which means support is only provided for the first two children in a family, Sir Keir said: “We’re not changing that policy.”
A shadow minister told The Independent there was “a lot of unhappiness” among MPs in the party and “a lot of lobbying” to force a change.
“It is extremely disheartening and contradictory to our policies to actually level up the country and bring children out of poverty to enable them to smash the class ceiling.”
The shadow minister said the party needs to “win to make change”, but also “needs to offer hope to win”.
Another shadow minister told The Independent they were “not happy” with the U-turn.
And a left-wing Labour MP said the U-turn raised questions about “what is the point of Labour?”.
They said: “If we are not going to prioritise the poorest children in this country, who have been victimised by one of austerity’s cruellest policies, then what is the point of us?
“It is shocking, and the opponents of this will not be the usual suspects, it will be the straw the broke the camel’s back for many.”
A slew of Labour frontbenchers have publicly opposed the two-child cap on benefits in the past, including shadow transport secretary Louse Haigh, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy.
In a sign Labour was set to scrap the policy, Mr Ashworth said in June that it was “heinous” and was “absolutely keeping children in poverty”.
The two-child benefit cap was introduced by austerity architect George Osborne
(Getty)
The policy prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017.
Asked about Labour’s plans on Monday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “What Labour’s been clear about is we have to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and we also will always make sure that the proposals we put forward are fully costed and funded so that we can actually deliver them, and I think that’s what people want to see.”
Downing Street confirmed the government will maintain the two-child cap, with Rishi Sunak’s spokesman saying: “There are no plans to change that that I’m aware of.”
Asked if the prime minister wanted to keep the welfare bill under control, his spokesman said: “Yes, of course.”