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Labour MP offers Rachel Reeves solution to scrap ‘sinister’ cap on two-child benefit

Labour MP offers Rachel Reeves solution to scrap ‘sinister’ cap on two-child benefit

Labour MP Zarah Sultana says scrapping the two-child benefit cap is “a matter of political will”, with ministers able to increase the amount if they wish.



Zarah Sultana calls for abolition of maximum child benefit

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been accused by one of their own MPs of looking “in the wrong places” for money to abolish the two-child benefit cap.

Left-winger Zarah Sultana refused to accept Ms Reeves’ explanation that there is no money to scrap the Conservative measure. More than 1.6 million children are affected by the policy, and pressure is mounting on the government to get rid of it.




In a public display of outrage within the party, Ms Sultana told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We can fund this commitment if we want to, and it’s a matter of political will. We can lift 300,000 children out of poverty immediately if we do this.

She continued: “This is not a radical demand. If Rachel decides to impose a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10bn, you could raise £24bn a year. If you want to equate capital gains to income thresholds, you could raise £16.7bn. So when we say there is no money to fund this, we are not looking in the right place.”

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are under pressure to scrap the policy((Getty Images)

Under pressure from Ms Kuenssberg, Chancellor Ms Reeves insisted she was right not to bow to demands. She said: “It costs over £3 billion a year and we made it really clear during the election that we would not make spending commitments without being able to say where the money would come from.

“And if I were to say to you now, ‘We’re going to make those changes this year, next year or the year after,’ you would rightly say, ‘Where is the money going to come from?’ If we can’t say where the money is going to come from, we can’t promise that we’re going to do it.”


Ms Sultana is among party figures demanding that Labour change its stance on the policy, which bans parents from claiming child benefit or general tax relief for more than two children.

Gordon Brown, Andy Burnham and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar have all called on Mr Starmer to abolish it. And Rosie Duffield, Labour MP for Canterbury, said the policy, introduced in 2015 by then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, was “sinister and overtly sexist”. She said opposition to it was the main reason she stood for parliament.