Exclusive:Labour should scrap ‘brutal’ two-child benefit cap, says former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell

A former Shadow Chancellor has weighed in on the latest Labour U-turn after Sir Keir Starmer said the party would not reverse a benefits policy which one of his frontbench team recently described as “heinous”.

John McDonnell, who served as Shadow Chancellor under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said the two-child benefit cap policy forces children into poverty, describing it as a “grotesque injustice”.

Starmer distanced himself from a move to scrap the policy when questioned yesterday (7 July), just weeks after Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jon Ashworth said the cap is a primary driver of child poverty.

It comes after former Scottish Labour leadership hopeful Monica Lennon MSP called for the cap to be scrapped, saying her colleagues in the party are “scared” to speak out against the leadership in Westminster.

‘A vicious policy’

Starmer’s Labour has been criticised again over what has been described as a U-turn on the two-child benefit cap, after shadow work and pensions secretary Jon Ashworth seemed to signal the party would scrap the policy in an interview last month.

The two-child cap – dubbed by some as the “rape clause” – precludes families from applying for child tax credit and Universal Credit for more than two children, although an exemption exists if a child is conceived through rape and this can be proven.

Asked about the policy following a speech setting out Labour’s plans for the education system yesterday (6 July), Starmer said scrapping the two-child limit is not party policy, but he did not rule out a shift at a later date, adding: “If that changes I’ll let you know.”

Last month, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jon Ashworth described the policy, introduced by George Osborne, as “heinous” and said it was “absolutely keeping children in poverty”. In an interview with The Mirror, Ashworth said: "The former Conservative welfare minister David Freud described this as a vicious policy. He was absolutely correct to describe it as a vicious policy."

When asked whether a Labour government would scrap the policy, he said the party was “not making specific proposals today,” but added, “we are certainly motivated by tackling child poverty".

He said: "At this stage we are not outlining our full universal credit reform policy but we are certainly determined to tackle child poverty. We are very, very aware that this is one of the single most heinous elements of the system which is pushing children and families into poverty today".

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell described the two child limit as “brutal” and said that Labour should scrap it.

He told NationalWorld: “The two child limit is a brutal method of cutting spending at the cost of forcing more children into poverty. It was introduced at a time the Conservatives were cutting taxes to the rich and corporations.

“So effectively some of the poorest children in our community are suffering to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy. This is a grotesque injustice and of course has to be reversed. Righting wrongs like this is what Labour governments do."

It comes after Monica Lennon – who was defeated by current Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in the party’s leadership election in 2021 – said on Twitter that Labour members are “scared of deselection, being exiled to backbenches, or not winning selections” for speaking out about the party’s policies.

Lennon tweeted: “I know colleagues are scared of deselection, being exiled to backbenches, or not winning selections, but if we don’t speak out then who will?

“The two-child benefit cap (aka the rape clause) is abhorrent and must be scrapped. [Labour’s] policies must be progressive and humane.”