Jeremy Corbyn criticises Labour over ‘two child’ benefits policy
Sir Keir Starmer is less than a week into the job and already facing the first major rebellion of his premiership. Hard-Left MP Kim Johnson says she plans to lay an amendment to the forthcoming King’s Speech that would force the Government to abolish the two child cap on benefits – something the Prime Minister has said he will not do.
Ms Johnson, a Liverpool MP, has slammed the policy as “cruel, punitive and is pushing struggling families into further poverty”.
She revealed: “I am laying an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the cap to scrapped – immediately lifting 250,000 children out of poverty.”
The rebellion is gathering momentum, with Labour’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell also coming out in favour of abolishing the limit.
Sir Keir Starmer is already facing a showdown with his Left-wing MPs (Image: House of Commons)
The Labour grandee told Times Radio the argument in favour of abolishing it “has been won”.
He added: “Now we’re in government, it’s just a matter of saying: ‘Look, how practically can we do this?’
“And most of us think this needs to be done sooner rather than later, because of the immense suffering our children are going through in every constituency. We have hundreds of children living in poverty and this could lift them out of that poverty.”
He predicted that across Parliament, there could be the numbers to force the Government into a U-turn.
“I think we must probably have a majority view within Parliament itself, across most political parties, including the Labour Party,” said Mr McDonnell.
“But I don’t think it will come to that. I actually do think there’s such an overwhelming view that this is something that needs to be done. I think the Government will want to get on with it.”
Left-wing Labour MP Kim Johnson is leading the rebellion (Image: Getty)
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Cabinet minister Steve Reed insisted he “of course” understood the call the scrap the limit, but repeated the Government line that it must stick to “strict spending controls” for the good of the economy.
He told reporters: “Of course we understand the pressure for that, of course we understand the difficulties families face because of the wider cost-of-living crisis.
“It is absolutely essential that this Labour government maintains strict spending controls because we have to stabilise the economy after 14 years of Conservative chaos.
“It is that chaos and the way they crashed the economy that has left families hurting so much. As we grow the economy, we will be able to spend the additional income on other things that we want to achieve for this country.”
The cause of scrapping the limit has also received the support of Labour’s Scottish leader Anas Sarwar, who said on Wednesday that supports of abolition are “pushing at an open door”.
The rebellion could also be boosted by Reform UK, after Nigel Farage endorsed scrapping the limit during the election.
It will also likely be backed by Jeremy Corbyn, who was re-elected as an independent MP last Thursday, along with other Left-wing MPs from the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens.
If Labour refused to back down on the issue and lost a vote to amend the King’s Speech, it would be the first defeat of a Government on the crucial Bill since 1924.
David Cameron was forced to accept an amendment backed by 25 Tory backbenchers and opposition parties in 2016 as Eurosceptics moved to embarrass him during the Brexit referendum by opposing the EU-US trade deal and a potential threat to the NHS.
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