In an interview with The Mirror, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said the Tories had left the country in a state that would ‘make Charles Dickens furious’ with ‘intolerable’ hardship
Neil Kinnock has said the controversial two-child benefit limit should be scrapped to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.
In an interview with The Mirror, the former Labour leader blamed the Tories for undoing Gordon Brown’s proud legacy of cutting child poverty. He said after 14 years the Conservatives left the country in a state that would “make Charles Dickens furious” with “intolerable” hardship.
Getting rid of the two-child benefit limit – one of the most severe cuts to the welfare state by austerity Chancellor George Osborne – would be the “immediate and direct way of trying to correct the conditions the government inherited,” he said. It comes after Mr Brown hit out at the return of ‘poverty of 60 years ago’.
READ MORE: Rachel Reeves gives update on wealth tax calls as pressure mounts to target richest BritsREAD MORE: KEVIN MAGUIRE: ‘Labour must find engaging story for the UK – or face election wipeout’
The policy, which restricts Universal Credit and Child Tax Credits to the first two children, has been blamed by charities for trapping kids in poverty. Labour MPs are calling on Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to axe the policy at the Budget in the autumn, or as part of an ongoing child poverty review.
Asked whether the government should now scrap the two child benefit-limit, Lord Kinnock, who led Labour between 1983 and 1992, said: “I would want them to do it. They may not be able to do it all at once, but I really want them to move in that direction because the figures are that if that did occur it would mean that about 600,000 kids, fewer, are in poverty.”
He later added: “Yes, I would say that. It might have to be done in a phased fashion – simply because of the revenue implications – but heading strongly and evidently in that direction is the way to go.”
The former Labour leader said tackling child poverty – among other issues facing the country – could be paid for by a tax on the assets of the super-rich or a hike in levies on the top 1%. He told The Mirror: “I think people would see the justification of increasing taxes on assets and the very, very highly paid – I’m talking about the top 1% – in order to make the transfer directly to reduce child poverty.
“I know it’s the economics of Robin Hood, but I don’t think there is anything terribly bad about that.”
Lord Kinnock has previously said a 2% levy on asset values over £10million – a “very big fortune” – could bring in around £11billion for the Treasury. He added: “The thing is we live in a fair country where the instincts are fair, so people approve of the idea of the broadest backs bearing the heaviest burden.
“Of course the very rich do make a substantial contribution. It’s not enough. And it hasn’t kept pace with the increase in their asset wealth. Simple and straightforward as that.”
Earlier this year official figures showed a record 4.5million children living in poverty. Pressed on what this said about the state of the nation, Lord Kinnock said: “All you’ve got to do is reflect where we were under Gordon Brown’s government when they cut child poverty gigantically by millions.
“In 15 years, starting from a position where beneficial change was taking place, we’ve got to the place that would make Charles Dickens furious. It’s been allowed to happen because the kids are voiceless and their parents feel powerless. I defy anybody to see a child in need and not want to help.”
Keir Starmer has previously vowed to slash the number of kids living in poverty. And Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is leading the child poverty task force alongside Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, has suggested ending the two-child benefit limit remains on the table.
Asked what he would like to see from the taskforce, Lord Kinnock said: “Recognise the basic thing that poverty exists because people haven’t got enough money. That’s so obvious you almost feel foolish saying it. But unless and until it’s recognised in operational policy then it’s going to continue.”
Lord Kinnock made clear he wants to see a reform of the “unjust” tax system. He told The Mirror: “To do it in the name of equity, fairness.
“People need to see a demonstration of the fact that things really are changing for the better. We live in a country now where lots of people are utterly fed up. When the encountered reality that whatever happens in the world, whatever happens in Britain, the same people come out on top, always, untouched.”
Ahead of the autumn Budget, Lord Kinnock also praised the “smart” and “gutsy” Chancellor Ms Reeves. He added: “She’s got a very, very difficult task. Last July they [Labour] inherited a phenomenal mess, a gigantic mess, almost of a post-war scale and we haven’t had a war.
“What we have had is 14 years of continual and chronic underinvestment in crucial areas. Not just the health service and education system, but the care system… virtually eradicated. The support for young families, really smashed to pieces.
“The [defence] forces, so underinvested, that we’ve got a smaller army than we had at the time of the Napoleonic wars. All of that is cumulative and just as in every other sphere in life, demolition is easy. Reconstruction is difficult.
“They’ve got this huge task of reconstruction. It is fundamental. I would actually like them to treat it not only as a terrible challenge, which it is, but also an opportunity that the mess that the Tories left is so big, so wide, that it could be used as an invitation for radical change.
“My gut tells me, my brain tells me, that our country needs that.”
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster