King’s Speech: Government to face four amendments on two-child benefit cap

The government is set to face four amendments to the King’s Speech over the controversial two-child benefit cap.

Proposals from some Labour MPs, along with independent MPs, the SNP, the SDLP and the Green Party call on the government to repeal the cap, introduced in 2017 by the Conservatives.

Labour has so far rejected calls to scrap the measure over cost concerns but has repeated its commitment to tackling child poverty through other means.

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The amendments come after the government announced plans to form a child poverty taskforce, which will explore how the government can “use all the levers we have to create an ambitious strategy”, including employment, housing, childcare and education.

What are the amendments?

Amendment A is proposed by all four Green MPs, along with independent MP Jeremy Corbyn and Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts.

Along with demanding an end to the two-child benefit cap, the amendment also calls for “an urgent transformative programme to tackle multiple challenges”, including climate change, social housing and inequality. It also demands more powers for local authorities to control rents and reform of the voting system.

READ MORE: Child poverty taskforce launched amid pressure to reverse two-child benefit cap

Amendment B is proposed by four independent MPs (Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed and Adnan Hussain), as well as Green MPs Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.

The amendment calls for an end to the two-child benefit cap, highlighting the impact on Bangladeshi and Pakistani families.

Amendment D is proposed by SNP MPs Stephen Flynn and Kirsty Blackman, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn, SDLP MP Colum Eastwood and Green MP Carla Denyer.

It calls for an end to the two-child benefit cap as a “vital first step in tackling child poverty”, claiming 670,000 additional children will suffer poverty by the end of the Parliament if the cap remains in place.

Amendment F is proposed by Labour MPs Kim Johnson, John McDonnell, Emma Lewell-Buck, Zarah Sultana, Mary Kelly Foy and Ian Lavery.

It calls on the government to abolish the two-child cap on benefits and notes that it is “widely considered by economist and civil society organisations that removing the cap would be the single most cost effective and impactful policy to immediately alleviate child poverty levels in this country”.

Israel-Palestine amendment

A fifth amendment, Amendment C, has also been lodged calling for the government to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, as well as the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine and the suspension of arms sales to Israel.

This amendment is proposed by Labour MPs Zarah Sultana, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, John McDonnell and Bell Ribeiro-Addy.

Read more our coverage of the King’s Speech here:

• Government launches Great British Energy to accelerate renewable energy investment
• What policies didn’t make it into the King’s address?
• King’s Speech vows ‘genuine’ living wage and flexible working ‘default’
• Full list of 40 key policy bills set to become law
• Kim Johnson MP: ‘My amendment to lift the two-child benefit cap is vital’

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