Labour’s Angela Rayner has expressed her support for removing the two-child benefit cap in order to combat child poverty. Rayner, a former Deputy Labour Leader, drew from her own upbringing to emphasize the unfairness of penalizing children. She highlighted that the benefit amounts to just £20 per week and refuted the notion that people have children solely for financial gain.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Rayner welcomed the recent signals from Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves indicating the potential abandonment of the two-child benefit limit in an upcoming announcement on November 26. She stressed the urgency of addressing the “evil of child poverty” and the detrimental impact of the current benefit cap.
Rayner urged the government to consider the evidence and prioritize Labour values in tackling child poverty. She emphasized the need to support vulnerable families and ensure that children are not left in destitution. Rayner shared her personal experience of growing up in challenging circumstances and underscored the importance of not penalizing children for factors beyond their control.
Additionally, over 40 celebrities, including Arlene Phillips, Mark Bonnar, Jason Isaacs, and Bill Nighy, joined forces to call for the removal of the two-child benefit limit in the Budget. In a letter to the Prime Minister, they advocated for ending the policy that pushes more children into hardship each day.
The two-child benefit limit, introduced during the Tory era in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households. Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently expressed his personal commitment to reducing child poverty rates, which currently affect around 4.5 million children.