LABOUR must scrap the two-child cap on benefits to reverse rising levels of child poverty that “would make Charles Dickens furious,” the party’s former leader Neil Kinnock has said.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, he urged ministers to introduce a wealth tax on the top 1 per cent as he became the latest senior party figure to pressure the current government to end the limit on benefits introduced by the Conservatives.

Lord Kinnock, who led Labour in opposition between 1983 and 1992, acknowledged the government may not be able to scrap the cap “all at once,” but added: “I really want them to move in that direction because [...] if that did occur it would mean that about 600,000 kids fewer are in poverty.”

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown recently said ending the two-child limit would be among the most effective ways of reducing child poverty.