Cherie Blair urges Starmer to scrap the two child cap

Pressure mounts on Labour to end cruel Tory policy

The SNP has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the poverty-inducing two child cap if his Labour party is handed the keys to Downing street at the next general election.

The challenge comes after Cherie Blair, a human rights lawyer and wife of former Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has backed the campaign to immediately 'scrap the cap', which has been led by the SNP at Westminster and is supported by various children's charities.

In Scotland over 87,000 (9%) children are affected by the two child cap.

Since its introduction the policy has contributed to growing levels of child poverty across the UK, with families losing around £3,200 a year for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017. It also forces women to relive the trauma of sexual assault in order to claim the support they, and their children, need to live.

Commenting, the SNP's Social Justice Spokesperson, David Linden MP said:

"By refusing to commit to scrap the two child cap, Sir Keir Starmer is consigning thousands of families in Scotland to poverty.

"The SNP Scottish Government is doing everything it can to prevent families in Scotland from falling into poverty. It has spent over £1 billion protecting Scottish households from the impacts of 13 years of Tory austerity and policies including the Scottish Child Payment have helped to lift 100,000 children out of poverty in Scotland.

"However, Tory policies like the two-child cap continue to undermine the Scottish Government's efforts and Scotland's values. By signing up to these Tory policies and fiscal rules, Starmer is setting Scotland, and the rest of the UK, on the path to another decade of poor growth and harmful cuts, and another decade of this broken, Brexit Britain.

"That is why voting SNP at the next general election is vital, to ensure Scotland has a strong team of SNP MPs standing up for Scotland's values and priorities."