City MPs have say on petition to axe the cap
City MPs have weighed in on a Portsmouth Liberal Democrat’s petition to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Portsmouth Lib
Dems have called on the government to “Scrap the Cap” which restricts child tax credit and Universal Credit to families with two or fewer children.
Charlie Murphy, the Liberal Democrats’ parliamentary candidate for Portsmouth South, said: “It has now been seven years since the cap was introduced and it has clearly failed.
“Abolishing the twochild cap is the single most cost-effective way to tackle child poverty, so I hope we can establish a cross-party consensus to just get it done.”
In response, Labour’s Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said: “Portsmouth people don’t need reminding of the consequences of the
Lib Dem-Conservative government which plunged so many children into poverty and decimated the services we all rely on. Reducing child poverty was a central achievement when Labour was last in power. The next Labour government will work tirelessly to undo the economic damage inflicted by the coalition and the Tories to achieve the same again.”
Conservative MP for Portsmouth North and leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said: “Actions that have made a real difference in Portsmouth including reforming taxes, the biggest expansion of free childcare ever, record increases in Universal Credit and the minimum wage and the introduction of family hubs.
“We have overseen hundreds of thousands lifted out of absolute poverty while the number of workless households has fallen by over a million. There are challenges ahead but these can’t be solved just through increasing welfare spending.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The two-child policy is about fairness, asking families on benefits to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work, and safeguards are in place to protect people in the most vulnerable circumstances.”
There are challenges ahead but these can’t be solved just through increasing welfare spending