LABOUR was slammed for dithering on child poverty as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted today she was “ashamed” after 38 faith leaders demanded ministers scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Unions and campaigners urged the government to get on with publishing its months-delayed child poverty taskforce’s strategy on the issue after its co-chairwoman said that it is now looking at “social security measures” as part of its strategy.

Ms Phillipson spoke after an open letter by faith leaders piled pressure on the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap — and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty overnight.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “It's not at all clear why the child poverty strategy is taking so long and MPs in all parties should be distressed by the level of child poverty. 

“Schools are doing everything they can to inspire young people and widen horizons but the most effective way to tackle child poverty is to raise family incomes. It is not defensible to keep the two-child limit in place.

“Children living in poverty are trapped — they face so many barriers. Most children living in poverty have at least one parent in work so this is about more good, secure jobs with proper wages as well as the right welfare policy choices.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell MP, who is suspended from Labour, added: “There is a growing consensus that scrapping the two-child limit has to be included in the Budget as a vital first step in eliminating child poverty. 

“The government should just get on with it now without delay.”

The task force strategy was originally expected in the spring but is now due to be published in the autumn. Charities and organisations working in the sector estimate that more than 100 children a day are being pulled into poverty.

Speaking on Sky News today, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said that the failure to tackle child poverty was “deeply shaming for us as a nation” and said the two-child limit was “one of the contributing factors.”

He supported suggestions by former prime minister Gordon Brown to back gambling tax reforms and a levy on banks to fund efforts to ease poverty, adding that delays to the strategy are “hugely frustrating and it’s deeply shaming for us as a nation.”

PM Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves were meanwhile urged to scrap the benefit cap in an open letter by a group of 38 senior figures from different faiths, including the former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams.

They said: “It is hard to conceive of an effective child poverty strategy that does not act on the restrictive benefit cap and end the two-child limit.

“As many charities and think tanks have now shown, ending the two-child limit is also the most cost-effective way to address child poverty. We believe this must be a priority for your government.”

Ms Phillipson told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I’m ashamed of the very high numbers of children growing up in poverty that we see in our country.”

Asked whether the government would lift the two-child benefit limit she said: “We’re looking at every way that we can lift more children out of poverty. That does extend to social security measures alongside that.

“It’s not the only way we can lift children out of poverty, and of course, it does come with a big price tag, but we know that not acting also comes with serious consequences and impact too.”

But a Momentum spokeswoman said: “Bridget Philipson is right to be ashamed by the levels of child poverty — we all should be.

“What is particularly shameful is that after one year, the Labour government has left the two-child benefit cap in place, and child poverty is projected to rise. It’s time to remove the two-child cap.”

The two-child cap was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017. It restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.

A government spokesman said: “Every child — no matter their background — deserves the best start in life.”