Gordon Brown points warning as he calls for ‘whole abolition’ of DWP two-child profit restrict
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown says levels of child poverty in Britain are shameful and a ‘scar on the soul of our nation’ in a major speech on Thursday
Gordon Brown has called for the “total abolition” of the two-child benefit limit – piling pressure on Keir Starmer’s government to act.
The former Labour Prime Minister said levels of child poverty in Britain were shameful and a “scar on the soul of our nation” in a major speech on Thursday. His intervention comes as Keir Starmer considers scrapping or watering down the Tory-era policy blamed by charities for trapping kids in poverty. It restricts Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit to the first two children in a family.
There are reports the government is looking at options including a new tapered rate – or a three-child benefit limit – to scale back the impact of the austerity measure. A child poverty review is expected to report back alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget on November 26.
Mr Brown said: “It’s the two-child rule that is responsible for every year the numbers of children in poverty rising. I obviously want to see an end to the two-child rule.”
“Without abolishing the two-child rule the government will not meet its target to have poverty coming down at the end of the Parliament. Without abolishing the two-child rule, as I understand it, we will not meet the new target for children under five that 75% of children have got to be school ready.”
He said that without removing the policy in full the grim so-called “rape-clause” – an exemption that can be applied for as a result of ‘non-consensual conception – will remain on the statue book. He added: “For all these reasons total abolition is far preferable to any tapering or any other kind of reform that would not abolish the two-child rule in its entirety.
He also targeted the austerity Chancellor George Osborne who introduced the policy, saying: “There’s another reason we should abolish the two-child rule. We should not have the stain on the legislative book of the House of Commons that this prejudice was introduced into legislation almost 10 years ago.
“What George Osborne wanted you to believe was that taxpayers were paying money when they couldn’t afford to have children, for other people to have children, who were poor parents on benefits, who were actually having children to get the benefits.”
Mr Brown said it was a “fictional account”, with 60% in families with an individual in work, moving between work, or with a new-born child. He added: “This account – that this is the benefit change that had to be introduced to deal with the workless, the feckless, the work-shy, the indolent – is completely wrong and should be banished from the statute book of our country as soon as possible.”
He also praised the work of former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who was sitting in the audience at the event to mark the 60th anniversary of the Child Poverty Action Group.
The former Labour Chancellor under Tony Blair between 1997 and 2007 also said it was “shocking” there were around 4.5million kids currently living in poverty. He said: “The highest figure for 60 years – higher than even under Thatcher, Major years. Then it’s got to be said if the Child Poverty Action Group did not exist it would have to be created today to deal with these injustices and inequalities in our society.”
Homelessness minister Alison McGovern, who also addressed the event on Thursday, said she could not give details on what will be in the Government strategy but said it will “consider better incomes for families dealing with some of the costs of poverty where we know there’s a premium to be paid if you’re poor”.
She acknowledged that “child poverty keeps families stuck in a frustrating battle with their finances when they should be making progress in life”. A Government spokesperson said its strategy will set out how to “tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty”.
