The Archbishop of Canterbury has demanded that Keir Starmer scraps the two-child benefit limit.
Justin Welby, who is head of the Church of England, branded the policy “cruel” and said it is “neither moral nor necessary”. Labour has said it will not scrap the policy if it gets into power despite members of its own party describing it as “heinous”.
Mr Welby told the Observer: “The two-child limit falls short of our values as a society. It denies the truth that all children are of equal and immeasurable worth, and will have an impact on their long-term health, wellbeing and educational outcomes. Children should grow up in families and households where they can flourish and be supported to find their place in the world. Yet the two-child limit prevents many from accessing the resources they need.”
He continued: “As a meaningful step towards ending poverty, and recognising the growing concern across the political spectrum, I urge all parties to commit to abolishing the two-child limit.” He added that “shamefully, children from ethnic minorities and homes where someone is disabled are most affected”.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting welcomed Mr Welby’s intervention and said he takes him “really seriously”. But he said he could not commit to the policy because of the Tories’ “disastrous handling of the economy” leaving the “public finances are in the mess”. He told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips he did not agree with the policy, adding that he voted against it when it was introduced, so “by definition, I wish it wasn’t there”.
Mr Streeting said: “If we are fortunate enough to be in government after the next general election, we will have a serious cross-government strategy for not just reducing child poverty but ending child poverty.” But he added: “One of the consequences of the Conservatives’ disastrous handling of the economy is the public finances are in the mess and there are harder choices to make. So unless and until I can sit on your programme and say, we will do X by funding it through Y, that’s not a commitment I’m able to make today.”
The two-child benefit rule was introduced by austerity Chancellor George Osborne back in 2017 and is estimated to save the Treasury around £2.5billion in the current financial year. Under the policy families with a third or subsequent child born from April 2017 claiming benefits can no longer receive additional amounts for these children. Scrapping the policy is expected to take hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.
Last week, Mr Starmer rejected former PM Gordon Brown’s plea to scrap the two-child benefit limit. Speaking at a Q&A after a speech in Essex, the Labour leader said he could not commit to scrapping the Tory policy despite people in his own party having branded it “heinous”.
The Mirror asked Mr Starmer: “Gordon Brown yesterday called for the two-child benefit limit to be scrapped and warned that the UK is heading for the worst child poverty figures in living memory. Where does ending child poverty sit in your list of priorities and will you rethink your position on the two-child limit?” The Labour leader responded: “Ending child poverty is central… If we’re privileged enough to come in to serve, we will put a strategy in place for it.” But on the two-child benefit cap, he said: “What I can’t do is make promises that I can’t deliver.”
It comes after Mr Brown said the two-child benefit limit was misunderstood and should be “scrapped”. “It’s not the third or the fourth child who is the only child that loses out. It’s every child because the average loss per family is about £60-per-week. A family on low pay or who is struggling can’t afford to lose £60-per-week,” he said.