How Will Labour Deal With The Child Benefit Problem?

Keir Starmer has found himself at odds with his own MPs after saying he would not remove the Tories’ two-child cap. Sean O’Grady looks at how the disagreement could play out

- Sean O’Grady

Keir Starmer has ignited a minor civil war in his party by promising to keep the Conservatives" "austerity" policy of limiting child benefit to the first two offspring. Labour MPs are reported to be furious, while the Tories say it simply proves that the Labour leader is a man without principle. Politically, though, things aren’t quite as simple as that...

Has Starmer flip-flopped?

It does very much look that way. In February 2020, admittedly before the pandemic and Brexit inflicted their damage on the British economy, Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, tweeted: “We must scrap the inhuman Work Capability Assessments and private provision of disability assessments (eg ATOS), scrap punitive sanctions, two-child limit and benefits cap.”

If something was “inhuman” in 2020, it is difficult to say it ain’t now. Starmer might argue, with justification, that the economic situation means that Labour can’t do everything it wishes to, but why not focus on eliminating the “inhuman” stuff?

In any case, Starmer used his interview with Laura Kuenssberg over the weekend to state quite bluntly that he would not be reversing the cuts to child benefit signalled by George Osborne a decade ago and introduced by Amber Rudd as secretary of state for work and pensions in Theresa May’s administration back in 2017.

How much would it cost to give child benefit to every eligible family (ie those earning less than about £50,000 a year)?