CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves must scrap the two-child cap “in full” at the Budget as seven in 10 of the 4.5 million children living in poverty in Britain have at least one working parent, the TUC has warned.

The union body called on Labour to ditch Tory cruelty on Wednesday, with its analysis published today revealing that working people are just £12 a week better off in real terms than they were when the financial crisis hit in 2008.

Public service workers, meanwhile, are no better off compared to 2008, with real pay the same.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the Chancellor must tackle the child poverty emergency by delivering a “living standards Budget.”

He said: “Households up and down the country are still suffering a painful Tory pay hangover — leaving this Labour government with lots of ground to make up.

“That’s why Wednesday is a crucial moment to show ministers are on the side of working people by making affordability a top priority.

“That means a clear plan to bring down energy bills for households. It means action to make work pay by showing ambition on the minimum wage. 

“And it means tackling the child poverty emergency by scrapping the two-child benefit cap in full.”

Polling by the TUC also reveals 83 per cent of the public believe no child should be living in poverty in Britain.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “This week’s Budget lands at a moment when education is running on empty.

“We are spending the smallest share of our GDP on education in 25 years — under a Labour government.

“But this isn’t just about percentages. It’s about the teacher covering yet another break duty under a leaking roof.

“It’s about children learning in their coats because the heating is unaffordable.”

He warned that an unfunded 6.5 per cent pay award spread over three years backed by ministers would “push an already strained system past breaking point,” with the union’s executive set to decide its next steps on Saturday.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, meanwhile, urged Ms Reeves to abandon her self-imposed fiscal rules in order to borrow to invest.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think what Rachel needs to do this week is be Labour: they are a Labour government, go in and put a Budget in that is actually Labour.

“They need to do a wealth tax because everyday people cannot pay anymore — they need to go to the wealthiest in our society and they also need to change the fiscal rules so they can borrow to invest.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the programme that scrapping the cap in the Budget would be a “victory” but urged the Chancellor to go further and “tax the rich.”

He said: “It’s absolutely outrageous it has taken the Labour government so long to do it, but if they do do it, that’ll be a victory and I’ll celebrate it.

“More widely though, we know that this Chancellor will keep talking about tough choices, but they always seem to be tough choices for people out of work, or working people who are working really hard while their wages aren’t going up but food prices are going up, for disabled people.

“When are we going to see tough choices for multimillionaires and billionaires?”

The Chancellor pledged to get a grip on the cost of living in her Budget in the Sunday Times, as making people better off is a “fundamental precursor to economic growth” and there is “an urgent need to ease the pressure on households now.”

She is, however, widely expected to raise taxes in an effort to bridge a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans amid weak economic growth, persistent inflation and an expected downgrade to official productivity forecasts.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander yesterday said that pre-Budget announcements and leaks had taken place on “shifting sands” amid fears about the economic impact of the weeks of speculation about what it will contain.

She also declined to deny that Ms Reeves was planning a pay-per-mile scheme for electric vehicle drivers.