SEVEN years after the creation of the two-child benefit cap, this government or the next must scrap it, the SNP will say.
Branded “the worst of the welfare reforms of the last 13 years” by the Poverty Alliance, the Tory cap means that no matter the assessed need, no-one could claim financial assistance for any more than two children, and exceptions are only permitted where a mother could demonstrate a child was the conceived through rape.
Seven years on, one in 10 children in the UK, around 1.5 million, are affected as some of the poorest families in the land lose as much as £3,200 per child per year.
On the anniversary of the cap’s introduction, Glasgow MP Alison Thewliss will call not only called for the Tories to scrap it but for Labour to “grow a backbone” and ditch Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to keep it.
Ms Thewliss is expected to say: “Despite overwhelming evidence that the policy has done nothing but impose severe harm on women and children, the Tories have remained wedded to it, revealing their wilful ignorance to the horrors of child poverty and rape in modern-day Britain.”
She will say: “It’s been exactly seven years since the cruel policy was introduced and Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak should reflect on the damage this policy has caused and commit to getting rid of it.
“Whilst it will be no surprise if the Tories ignore our call, given they seem incapable of showing decency or empathy to anyone but the mega-rich, we should expect Labour to grow a backbone and commit to making a lasting change overnight by ending, once and for all, the two-child cap and rape clause.
“If they refuse, Labour will make it crystal clear they cannot be trusted to stand up for Scotland and our values.”
Scottish Labour executive member Lauren Harper also called on Labour to scrap the cap: “The two-child cap is an abhorrent and frankly misogynistic piece of legislation that seeks to demonise women for having children and children for the crime of being born.”
Ms Harper noted that Scottish Labour already supported scrapping the two-child cap.
“Given just how unpopular the two-child cap is in Scotland and among the Scottish Labour membership I don’t think there’s a danger of this commitment being dropped,” she said.
The Department for Work and Pensions were contacted for comment.
