Two paediatricians have written an open letter calling on the government to abolish the two-child benefit cap, describing it as a policy choice that keeps hundreds of thousands of children in poverty. Dr Guddi Singh and Dr Geoff Debelle say they see the consequences daily in their clinics: babies failing to thrive, school children too hungry to learn, and teenagers burdened by family poverty.
The doctors note that lifting the cap would be the single most effective step to reduce child poverty, citing evidence from the Child Poverty Action Group and the British Medical Journal. They urge the government to introduce a modest tax on wealth or other progressive measures to fund the change, adding their voices to those of the Archbishop of York and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
In a separate letter, a Labour supporter criticises Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson for describing the cap as 'spiteful' only after waiting over a year, and for voting to continue the policy under the previous government. The writer says this is the most cynical government they can remember.
Another reader contrasts Phillipson's delayed action with a neighbour who, seeing her as a child cold in a jumper, immediately put money through the door to buy her a coat. The reader says the neighbour was a Keynesian who knew he could afford what he could do, unlike the current government.
