Phillipson presses Starmer and Reeves to abolish two-child benefit cap in full
In a significant internal push that underscores the early ideological tensions within the new Labour government, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is applying direct pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to fully abolish the controversial two-child benefit cap in next month’s budget. Phillipson, in an exclusive conversation with the Guardian, presented a meticulously prepared report on child poverty, framing the complete removal of the limit not merely as a moral imperative but as the most fiscally prudent and cost-effective mechanism to materially improve the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.The policy, a legacy of the previous Conservative administration, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in a family, a move its architects argued would encourage fiscal responsibility but which critics have long decried as a brutal and counterproductive 'rape clause' that disproportionately punishes the poorest families, particularly women and children. Phillipson’s advocacy represents a critical test for Starmer’s cabinet, pitting her socially conscious, evidence-based approach against Reeves’s famously rigid commitment to fiscal discipline and pre-announced spending rules.The education secretary’s argument is rooted in a stark economic reality: the immense downstream costs of child poverty, which manifest in increased pressure on the National Health Service, higher demands on social care, and diminished long-term economic productivity, far outweigh the upfront savings from the cap. This is not just a budgetary line item; it is a profound statement about the kind of society this government intends to build.Will it prioritize the immediate balance sheet, or will it invest in the human capital that forms the bedrock of a thriving nation? Historical parallels abound, from the foundational debates surrounding the Beveridge Report to the New Labour era’s successful campaign to reduce child poverty, suggesting that targeted welfare investment is not antithetical to economic strength but fundamental to it. Phillipson’s move is a bold gambit, leveraging her position and the moral weight of her portfolio to challenge the Treasury’s orthodoxy from within.The outcome of this quiet but intense Whitehall battle will reveal much about the distribution of power in the new regime and whether its avowed 'social justice' mission can withstand the cold pragmatism of the nation’s finances. As the budget negotiations reach their climax, all eyes are on this single policy, a litmus test for the government’s soul, with the futures of hundreds of thousands of children hanging in the balance.
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