Andy Burnham has urged Keir Starmer to eliminate the two-child benefit limit, stating that there is no ethical justification for the policy to persist. This appeal coincides with the government’s deliberation on scrapping or weakening the Tory-era policy, which has been criticized for ensnaring hundreds of thousands of children in poverty.
In a discussion with The Mirror’s Real Britain columnist Ros-Wynne Jones, Burnham implored the party to remove the cap on benefits for two children. He emphasized the potential to alleviate child poverty significantly in London, Liverpool, and Manchester. Burnham proposed implementing either a gambling tax or a wealth tax to address the issue effectively.
The former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, suggested increasing gambling taxes in the Budget to generate funds for combating the alarming levels of child poverty. Burnham highlighted that abolishing the two-child benefit limit would not only uplift children from poverty but also restore morale within the party.
He criticized Labour’s decision to withdraw the whip from seven MPs who opposed the party on the two-child benefit limit, contrasting it with the inclusive approach during the Brown and Blair era. The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently estimated that eliminating the policy could lift 630,000 children out of poverty in the long run.
Liverpool City Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram, expressed admiration for Mayor Sadiq Khan’s initiative on free school meals and expressed a desire to implement a similar policy. Burnham also urged Labour to prioritize addressing the cost-of-living crisis and reducing people’s expenses, advocating for interventions to lower various bills and transport fares.
As the government prepares to release the results of its child poverty review later this year, the calls for reforming the two-child benefit limit and focusing on alleviating financial burdens on individuals continue to grow.