Lancaster MP defends voting against calls to scrap controversial two-child benefit cap

The Lancaster & Wyre MP has defended voting against calls to scrap the 'two-child benefit cap' saying she remains opposed to the controversial policy.

Cat Smith was one of 363 MPs who voted against an amendment tabled by the Scottish National Party in Westminster calling for the cap to be abolished.

The two-child cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child, with a few exemptions.

Labour MP Ms Smith had previously said she thought the policy, introduced by the previous Conservative government, was "cruel".

She'd also said, during a general election debate on Beyond Radio in June: "I would like to see (the policy) scrapped and given any opportunity to vote that way I certainly would."

Seven Labour MPs who did vote in favour of the SNP amendment on Tuesday, have been suspended from the Parliamentary party for six months, meaning they will sit for now as independent MPs.

Ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana backed the motion to amend the King's Speech, but it was defeated by 363 votes to 103.

Ms Smith told Beyond Radio on Wednesday: "As you know from the debate we did, I am opposed to this cap which I agree pushes families into poverty and have previously signed motions outlining my opposition to it.

"Shamefully, under the Conservatives, the number of children in poverty has risen by 700,000 – with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. I am therefore pleased the incoming Labour Government is treating child poverty with the seriousness it deserves.

"Labour have committed to an ambitious child poverty strategy, which we have set to work on immediately.

"This will be overseen by a new Ministerial Taskforce to drive cross-government action on child poverty, which will be co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education and will involve all key relevant departments.

"In recent days both the Prime Minister and Education Secretary have made clear they are prepared to consider abolishing the two-child cap as part of this work.

"I am therefore happy to give Ministers the time to consider the evidence and bring forward a package of fully costed measures that will significantly reduce child poverty and build on the last Labour Government’s record of lifting over half a million children out of poverty.

"I both hope and expect this to include the abolition of the two-child limit.

"What I am not prepared to do is support an amendment, tabled by the SNP (who have chosen not to mitigate the impact of this cap in Scotland despite the Scottish Government having the powers to do so) purely for party political reasons, calling for the abolition of the two-child limit with absolutely no indication of how it will be funded.

"We are only just about starting to recover from Liz Truss’s disastrous mini budget which crashed our economy following a huge number of unfunded commitments. It would be hugely irresponsible for the incoming Labour Government to make the same mistake – which ultimately would only increase child poverty levels."

The SNP amendment, tabled by Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, said the cap is "pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty".

Around 1.6 million children lived in a household affected by the policy last year, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

The number of households affected by the cap has increased every year since the policy was introduced, going from 71,000 UK-wide in 2017 to 450,000 in 2024.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank has estimated that removing the two-child benefit cap would eventually cost the government £3.4bn a year, roughly three per cent of the total budget for working-age benefits.

During the Beyond Radio election debate of Lancaster & Wyre candidates in June, Ms Smith said:

"I've been very on the record over the last few years saying the two-child policy is cruel.  I believe that the two-child policy punishes whole families. You don't have three children and then only feed the first two and let the third one go hungry. It actually brings child poverty across all the children in the family.

"So for me the two-child cap has been one of the cruellest things that we've seen under this government and has been one of the key things that has led to the rise in child poverty.

"So it's not something I support.

"I would like to see that scrapped and given any opportunity to vote that way I certainly would. I have got a record of not always keeping entirely to the Labour whip in Westminster, shall we say.

"And that is something that I feel very strongly about. For me, it's a moral issue because child poverty doesn't just blight childhood, it blights a lifetime."

Lizzi Collinge, the new MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, also voted against the amendment.

During a debate of Morecambe & Lunesdale candidates in June, Ms Collinge was asked why Labour's manifesto stopped short of agreeing to abolish the cap.

She said: "We need to make sure that we are in the right economic position to be able to do that.

"All the other policies we're going to bring in will support those families."

Ms Collinge also posted a photo of herself and Ms Smith (above) meeting with Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and other north west MPs on Tuesday to discuss child poverty.

Ms Collinge said: "I told the Minister about the challenges our communities face and also about the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission which unites people with lived experience of poverty with decision makers."

Read more: GENERAL ELECTION: David Morris challenged on 'falling child poverty' claims - Beyond Radio