SCOTLAND’S First Minister John Swinney has used Challenge Poverty Week to repeat his calls for Labour to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Today’s speech by the SNP leader described tackling child poverty as his government’s “defining mission,” pointing to measures such as the Scottish Child Payment — now paid to 322,000 families — as key to achieving rates of both relative and absolute child poverty nine percentage points lower than the UK average in 2023-24.

“There are fewer children in poverty in Scotland than the rest of the UK because we have made bold policy choices backed by an unwavering resolve,” he said.

“Our free school meals programme is providing nutritious meals to more than 230,000 primary school pupils.

“We have cut costs for commuters by scrapping peak rail fares. Some 2.3 million people travel free on buses. And we’re mitigating the two-child limit early next year.”

Demanding that the Labour government play its part, he added: “The UK government, if it is serious about tackling poverty, must match our ambition and, at the very least, fully scrap the two-child limit so that a generation of children don’t have their opportunities limited by inaction.

“We have made a difference through bold, game-changing policies. The blueprint is there. It is time for the UK government to act.”

A Westminster government spokesperson said: “The government is determined to bring down child poverty. 

“We’ve already uprated benefits, increased the national minimum wage and are supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions.

“We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.”