A Cabinet minister dropped another heavy hint today that Labour is on the verge of axing the two-child benefit cap.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was ‘confident’ the government will ‘do the right thing’ to tackle poverty amid a clamour from left-wing MPs and Reform.
The move will boost handouts by up to £3billion a year – even as Rachel Reeves prepares another brutal round of tax hikes at the Budget.
The ‘wealthy’ are expected to be targeted to fill an estimated £30billion black hole in the public finances on November 26.
Speculation is mounting that Ms Reeves will slash pensions reliefs, freeze tax thresholds again and bring in a ‘mansion tax’ as she scrambles for more cash.
However, critics insist she will inevitably be punishing ordinary workers, with previous efforts to milk the rich having backfired.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was ‘confident’ the government will ‘do the right thing’ to tackle poverty amid a clamour from left-wing MPs and Reform
The ‘wealthy’ are expected to be targeted by Rachel Reeves (pictured) to fill an estimated £30billion black hole in the public finances on November 26
The slowing economy, productivity downgrades, rising debt interest costs and a series of humiliating U-turns on welfare reforms have contributed to Mrs Reeves’ desperate plight.
She already hammered Brits with £40billion of extra taxes at the Budget last year – the biggest increase in a single package on record.
The Chancellor is reported to have been urging business to be more positive about the UK’s prospects, warning that the unrelenting gloom risks propelling Nigel Farage into No10.
And despite the dire financial situation, Mrs Reeves is widely expected to head off unrest on her left flank – and from Mr Farage – with concessions on the two-child benefit cap.
The rule currently prevents parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credit for a third or additional child born after April 2017.
But the Treasury is thought to be considering whether additional benefits might instead be limited to three or four children.
Another option would be a ‘taper’ so parents get the most for their first child and less for subsequent children.
There is also the possibility that the cap could be lifted only for working parents on Universal Credit.
It is estimated that scrapping the cap entirely would cost around £3billion a year.
Touring TV and radio studios this morning, Ms Phillipson – who is battling Lucy Powell for Labour’s deputy leadership – was asked whether she would resign if the benefit cap stays in place.
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: ‘I am confident that we as a Government will do the right thing by children growing up in poverty in our country.
‘We’ve already started that process, there’s more to do, I will make that happen.’
Ms Phillipson suggested there was an ‘urgency’ to lifting the cap.
She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: ‘There’s an urgency to this. With every year that passes more children are moving to poverty because of the two-child limit.
‘It was a Tory policy. We would not have introduced it. I’m clear what needs to happen. I’ll be in Cabinet arguing for that, and that’s why I’ve made tackling child poverty my number one priority during this campaign.’
