Chancellor Rachel Reeves has condemned Nigel Farage’s opposition to scrapping the two-child benefit cap, accusing the Reform UK leader of wanting to keep children in poverty based on their skin colour. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Reeves said she was angered by Farage’s suggestion that only British-born families should have the cap lifted, calling it akin to saying some families deserve to have children in poverty.
Farage told a press conference on Wednesday that his party would vote against the measure, citing concerns it would benefit “huge numbers of foreign-born people”. Reeves responded: “I don’t really care what colour a kid’s skin is – some deserve to be in poverty and some don’t? That makes me pretty angry. Does Nigel Farage want to go around and say: ‘White? Yeah, you can have the money. Black? No, I’m sorry, it’s not for you.’ What sort of country does he think we are?”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will champion the policy in Bedfordshire on Thursday, saying Reform and Conservative opposition “exposes the deep division and decline” of their agendas. He will add: “Nigel Farage seems intent on linking arms with the Conservatives in a cruel alliance to push kids who need help back into poverty. This child poverty pact is something that should worry us all.” Labour analysis suggests Farage’s alternative—offering extra benefits only to two-parent households born in the UK—would help just 3,700 families, less than 1% of those affected by the cap.
Reeves, who will introduce legislation to lift the cap on Thursday, acknowledged the delay due to market stability concerns but said the government must now win public opinion to prevent any future reversal. “We’ve got to make sure that no party ever feels that they can get away with reversing this policy,” she said, noting the measure could lift 550,000 children out of poverty. She added that Labour would not shy away from using the policy to win back progressive voters, stating: “If anyone thinks that that is not worth voting for then I don’t know what is, because this is everything.”
Farage, meanwhile, faced further questions over allegations of racist and antisemitic bullying during his time at Dulwich College. He denied the claims, calling them “complete made-up fantasies”, and refused to apologise. Reform members booed an ITV journalist who asked why he had not apologised to his accusers.
