The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is running to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader, gave her clearest indication yet the policy will be scrapped
Bridget Phillipson has said the impact of the two-child benefit limit has been “devastating”.
The Education Secretary, who is running to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader, gave her clearest indication yet the policy will be scrapped.
Ms Phillipson, who is leading the government’s child poverty taskforce, said: “I’m clear about what needs to happen, I’m clear what the evidence tells us and I’m clear what we need to do.
“There’s a real urgency about this because every year that passes, as children are born, as they move into that system, the numbers go up, child poverty rates increase. So we have to tackle it.”
She told the BBC: “This was a Tory policy that’s had a devastating impact on children and we’ll sort it.”
Rachel Reeves is considering scrapping the policy, which restricts Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit payments to the first two children, later this autumn.
The Chancellor is said to be considering options to replace the measure blamed for trapping kids in poverty with options including a new “tapered system”.
This could mean parents receiving the most money for the first child and less for their other children. The Treasury was also said to be examining whether the two-child benefit limit could be made less severe by giving the additional benefits to families with three or four children.
But government officials stressed this week that no decision has been taken with the work of the child poverty task force still ongoing. One government source told The Mirror : “No decisions have been made. Work on the child poverty strategy is ongoing.”
Ms Reeves refused to confirm whether she was planning to scrap the two-child benefit cap when grilled at a fringe event at the Labour party conference this week.
She said: “Keir said in his speech today that we will reduce child poverty in this Parliament, but we will set out the policies in the Budget.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear this week that we can’t commit to policies without us explaining where the money is coming from.”
Ms Phillipson is up against former Commons leader Lucy Powell in the race to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader following her resignation over her tax affairs. Ms Powell has also suggested the Tory-era policy to be scrapped.
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