Labour MPs have celebrated the end of the two-child benefit cap - despite voting not to scrap it last year.
Rachel Reeves announced in her Budget on Wednesday (26 November) the two-child benefit cap will be scrapped in April 2026. Previously, almost all parents were prevented from claiming Universal Credit for more than two children.
The move is expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty, including thousands in Newham.
Wednesday’s announcement will come as welcome news to cash-strapped families across Newham and the rest of the UK. However, Labour MPs previously overwhelmingly voted against a motion by the SNP to scrap the two-child benefit cap - including Rachel Reeves.
In July 2024, an amendment to the King’s Speech was tabled in the name of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, stating that it “fails to include immediate measures to abolish the two-child benefit limit to universal credit.”
The House of Commons voted by 363-103 to reject the amendment. These included James Asser, Labour MP for West Ham and Beckton; Labour MP for East Ham, Sir Stephen Timms; and Uma Kumaran, Labour MP for Stratford and Bow.
Asser took to Instagram on ‘Budget day’, where he said there was ‘lots of good news in the Budget red book.’
“Firstly, the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, which will help lots and lots of people in our area, where we have a lot of issues around child poverty,” he said.
Just seven Labour MPs voted against the government on the motion.
Ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, along with Zarah Sultana, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long Bailey had the whip suspended for six months.
McDonnell and Begum became the latest to be readmitted to the party in September. Six of the MPs have now rejoined, while Sultana resigned in July of this year and co-founded Your Party with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Sir Timms told the Newham Citizen: "I took the Child Poverty Act 2010 through Parliament, and was pleased when, after last year’s General Election, the new Government – in which I am a Minister – set up its Child Poverty Taskforce.
"Policies addressing child poverty must be properly costed and funded, to avoid the damage caused by Liz Truss’s budget when the numbers didn’t add up.
"In the Budget this week, the Chancellor set out a package in which the two child limit will be removed, and how it will be paid for. I am pleased to support it."
Asser said: "Scrapping the two-child benefit cap will help an estimated 5500 children in West Ham and Beckton.
"It is going to make a significant difference to families and help with daily money struggles. But will also have a long-term positive impact on all the children whose opportunities have been limited by this policy.
"The government faced serious challenges after 14 years of the Conservatives. Tackling the mess, they left, and their decade and half of austerity measures was never going to be a quick fix. Anything we did needed to be deliverable not just a gesture, my constituents deserve more than that.
"We are now at a point that we can tackle child poverty in a costed and tangible way, and it will change lives."
The Citizen has contacted Uma Kumaran and the Chancellor of the Exchequer for comment.
