“Total abolition is far preferable to any tapering or any other kind of reform that would not abolish the two-child rule in its entirety."
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the total abolition of the two-child cap ahead of the budget next month, adding further pressure on the government to act.
Speaking at a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Brown set out the case for lifting the cap altogether, which charities and anti-poverty campaigners say is responsible for pushing hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.
The two-child benefit cap was introduced by Osborne as Conservative chancellor. It bars families from claiming the £292.81-a-month child element of universal credit for third and subsequent children born after April 6, 2017.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, every day it remains in place, 109 more children are pulled into poverty by the policy. If the policy were scrapped, 350,000 children would be lifted from poverty instantly, at a cost of £2bn. The depth of poverty would be reduced for another 800,000 children.
Ahead of reports that the government is considering a tapered system instead, Brown has intervened calling for the two-child cap to be lifted altogether.
He said: “Total abolition is far preferable to any tapering or any other kind of reform that would not abolish the two-child rule in its entirety.
“But there’s another bigger reason why we should abolish the two-child rule. We should not have the stain on the legislative book of the House of Commons and the House of Lords that this prejudice was introduced into legislation almost 10 years ago.”
He also took aim at Osborne for trying to ‘inculcate prejudice into the mind of the country’, saying that the former Tory chancellor had sought to blame poor parents for the disastrous impact his cruel policies were having.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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