MP calls on Chancellor to end ‘sinister’ two-child cap
AGLASGOW MP has called on the new Chancellor to use his first Budget to ease the impact of the two-child tax credit cap. Rishi Sunak will deliver his Budget on Wednesday, following the resignation of Sajid Javid over a row with Prime Minister Boris Johnson about special advisors.
Glasgow Central SNP MP Alison Thewliss has written to Sunak asking him to provide cash for those affected by the two-child limit.
Thewliss has campaigned for the policy, and the so-called rape clause, to be scrapped, saying it is pushing more families into poverty.
The MP said the policy is “wicked”, “sinister” and hits families in work, going against the “making work pay” message of the Tories.
She said that official government figures show that almost 60% of families affected have at least one parent in work.
In her letter to Sunak, Thewliss quoted the United Nations rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, who said the policy was “deeply problematic” and that it should be reversed.
The two-child limit applies to children born after April 6, 2017.
For families with two or more children, the child element in Universal Credit and tax credits is restricted to the first two children. It is worth £2780 a year per child.
It is estimated to affect around 20,000 children in Scotland.
Thewliss said: “The UK Government have tried time and again to justify this cruel and sinister policy, and they have failed each and every time.
“The continued damage this policy will inflict on families and communities across the UK is frightening, with the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimating that ending the two-child limit would mean 300,000 fewer children in poverty by 2023/24, and would prevent one million children being pushed even deeper into poverty.
“I have today written to the Chancellor to lay out – should he not already be aware – just how wicked this legislation is.
“He must be bold and do the right thing by families and children, and help to mitigate its effects.”
CPAG has warned that the policy has had a serious impact on families.
It carried out a survey that found many parents had to borrow money each month to get by, and several had considered terminations when they found out about the policy after they became pregnant.
A CPAG spokeswoman said: “The two-child limit undermines family life and leaves children without support in their vital early years, when the foundations are being laid for their future development.
“The government should lift the two-child limit to help all children thrive.”
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has also said it should be scrapped.
In a report, the cross-party committee said any family in the country, except the super-rich, could fall foul of the two-child limit if their circumstances changed for the worse.
The UK Government has said the two-child limit is a fairer policy.
The UK Government’s stated position is that the policy ensures fairness by asking families receiving benefits to face the same financial choices as families supporting themselves solely through work.