‘Turning over the two-child cap: a moral imperative’

Let me be very clear: scrapping the two-child benefit cap is morally right.

In fact, it is the most cost-effective, immediate, and powerful lever we have at our disposal to lift children out of hardship. Yet this cruel policy continues to punish families simply for having three or more children.

Every single day, 109 more children are unnecessarily pushed into poverty because of this cap. Children who should be loved and supported are instead penalised by a system that denies them access to Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit if they are the third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

In Britain in 2025, around 1.6 million children are affected by the two-child limit. That’s almost one in nine children across the UK. And in my constituency of Bradford East, where half of all children are growing up in poverty, the impact is especially severe.

According to the seasoned campaigners like the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), scrapping the policy outright would instantly lift 350,000 children out of poverty and reduce the depth of poverty for another 700,000. That is more than one million children whose lives could be transformed immediately with one logical, targeted policy change.

By comparison, other reforms, such as increasing the child element of Universal Credit by £17 a week, would cost more (around £3 billion) to deliver a similar result.

However, we must not reduce this down into numbers alone. In Bradford East and many communities across the country, families are under tremendous strain. Nationwide, we are seeing children living in what some are calling “almost Dickensian levels of poverty,” denied access to sufficient food, safe housing, and basic hygiene.

This is absolutely unacceptable for a country as wealthy as ours.

A moral commitment with political momentum

After a year of scrutiny, this Government now recognises that there is no credible path to reducing child poverty without scrapping the two-child limit in full.

That view is widely shared. The growing chorus of belief spans non-profits to political advocates. A coalition of anti-poverty leaders — including Alison Garnham (CPAG), Anna Feuchtwang (National Children’s Bureau), Baroness Anne Longfield (Centre for Young Lives), and the CEOs of UNICEF UK, the Trussell Trust, Save the Children, Barnardo’s, Action for Children and others — have written openly and collectively that “getting rid of the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to lift 350,000 kids out of poverty, while reducing the depth of poverty for 700,000 more.”

In Parliament, Sir Keir Starmer pledged that “my ministers will leave no stone unturned to give every child the best start at life.” This is the very stone that must now be overturned.

Funding is possible and responsible

One common objection is cost. But Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves is already exploring new revenue streams — including a proposed rise in online gambling taxes from 21% to 50%. This alone could raise more than £3 billion annually — enough to scrap the cap without increasing income tax, National Insurance, or VAT. Likewise, a modest 2% levy on extreme wealth could raise up to £24 billion each year.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has spoken out forcefully, arguing that the gambling industry’s excess profits should be utilised to support our children and deliver on Labour’s moral duty.

If we accept that poverty is a cancer in our society — language Brown has not used lightly — then we must act both decisively and responsibly.

And now, another former Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, has joined the call to scrap the two-child cap. He has made it clear: ending this policy would be the most immediate and direct way to tackle child poverty. His intervention shows just how widespread the consensus has become. From campaigners and communities to leaders past and present, it is evident that this unjust policy must go.

Time to follow through

As we approach the Government’s upcoming autumn Child Poverty Strategy, an obvious choice stands before us: use this opportunity to deliver real change or fall short when families need action the most.

We know the facts. The options are low in cost compared with their societal value. The benefits to children, communities, and our moral fabric as a society are undeniable.

In Parliament, I voted to scrap the two-child cap. I lost the Labour whip over it. And I will keep fighting until the policy is scrapped for good. I will not stop campaigning and pushing until it is gone.

No child in Bradford East — or anywhere in Britain — should be punished for having siblings. No child should go hungry, live in the cold, or have their future stunted by poverty.

Let’s turn over this stone now.

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