Angela Rayner has thrown her weight behind the campaign to scrap the controversial two-child benefit cap, describing child poverty as an "evil" that must be eradicated in the UK.
Drawing on Personal Experience
The former Deputy Labour Leader powerfully referenced her own difficult upbringing during an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror. She argued that it is fundamentally wrong to penalise children for their family's circumstances, stating that children should not be stripped of benefits that could lift them out of poverty.
Ms Rayner also took aim at critics who suggest people have more children simply to receive additional benefits. She pointed out the stark reality that the benefit in question amounts to less than £20 per week, a sum she emphasised is far from an incentive for expanding a family.
Government Signals and Celebrity Backing
The intervention comes amid significant developments, with Ms Rayner welcoming indications from both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves that the two-child benefit limit will be addressed in the upcoming November 26 statement.
This momentum is further supported by a coalition of over 40 prominent celebrities, including Arlene Phillips, Mark Bonnar, Jason Isaacs, and Bill Nighy. In a letter organised by the Trussell Trust foodbank charity, they implored the Prime Minister to fully remove what they labelled a "cruel" policy, highlighting that it pushes 109 more children into hardship every single day.
The Scale of the Challenge
The Tory-era policy, which came into effect in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households. Its potential abolition is seen as a critical step in tackling the nation's staggering child poverty rate, which currently affects 4.5 million children.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated his personal determination to drive down these rates. Ms Rayner expressed her confidence in the Labour government's values, stating, "I think the Government has to look at the evidence, it’s a Labour Government, it’s our Labour values." She concluded with hope that the budget will deliver the necessary change to protect the nation's most vulnerable children.
