MINISTERS finally moved to end the hated two-child benefit cap today, introducing the Bill to scrap it in the Commons.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden described the move as an “investment in the future.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves had announced the change in the budget last November after mounting pressure from Labour MPs.

PM Sir Keir Starmer, who suspended seven MPs from the Labour whip in 2024 for voting to lift the cap, attacked the Tories and Reform for not backing the government’s U-turn.

The Conservatives have said they will reinstate the cap in full, while Nigel Farage has pledged to lift it only for the children of two British-born parents who are in work.

Abolishing the limit will lift around 450,000 children out of poverty by 2030, at a cost of £3 billion per year.

Mr McFadden said: “I don’t see this just as a cash transfer in terms of that £3bn, I see it as an investment in children’s future, because we know that children from the poorest families will end up doing less well at school, less than a quarter of them get five good GCSEs, we know they’re four times more likely to have mental health problems later in life.”

He also indicated that the government might make a further stab at cutting welfare benefits, having been forced to back down over the issue by a backbench rebellion last year. 

Then the target was disabled people, this time it would be young people not in education, employment or training.

Mr McFadden said he had placed his “early emphasis” in the job on Neets, adding: “For every young person who goes on to benefits and stays there, they will lose about £1 million in earnings over the course of their lives.”

Sir Keir, ignoring his own previous opposition to lifting the cap, accused Reform and the Tories of uniting in a “cruel alliance to push kids who need help back into poverty.”

He said: “This child poverty pact is something that should worry us all. These aren’t numbers on a spreadsheet — these are children’s life chances at stake.

“Labour chooses the other road — lifting almost half a million kids out of child poverty — and that’s what we’re doing this year. It’s the right thing to do for them, their families and our economy. 

“It’s astonishing that Reform and the Tories would undo that change and leave a lost generation of kids in every corner of Britain.”