PM must stand firm and keep the two-child benefit cap – Welfare is already out of control
PM must resist the two-child benefit pressure
'UNSUSTAINABLE, indefensible and unfair.'
Sir Keir Starmer was spot-on when he made his blunt assessment of Britain's grotesquely spiralling welfare bill back in March.
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As it rockets towards £70billion a year by the end of this decade, we simply cannot afford to allow this crazed spending spree to go on.
Yet many of his own MPs are deaf to common sense on this issue.
Like leftie Employment Minister Alison McGovern, who believes those out of work should be able to turn down a job if they don't fancy it.
As with other Labour rebels, she sees state handouts as the only answer to every problem.
No doubt she will be among the MPs piling pressure on the PM to axe the two-child benefit cap this week after new figures showed a rapid increase in child poverty.
The figures are shocking, but Sir Keir must stand firm and keep the cap.
It stops parents claiming benefits for more than two children and lifting it would pile another £3.5billion on our already unmanageable welfare bill.
What's more, it would award more handouts to 180,000 families in which nobody has a job.
As Labour grandee Lord Blunkett points out, there is a limit to how far the state can go in child support.
And in any case why should those who continue to work hard and pay taxes have to fork out even more for the children of those who don't?
Vest-up jail guards
ANOTHER day, another brutal prison attack.
The shocking stabbing of a guard by a convict armed with a flick-knife at HMP Long Lartin is just the latest in a spate of violent incidents in Britain's out-of-control jails.
How much longer can we sit on our hands while they are put at risk because they cannot protect themselves?
The Tories' Shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick has called for guns to be available on-site in prisons.
Such weapons might be justifiable in extreme cases such as riots.
But guards come into daily contact with convicted murderers and terrorists.
They must have the minimum they need to keep order safely.
Those working in the most dangerous jails should immediately be issued with stab vests and tasers.
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14 minutes ago
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Calls to scrap two-child benefit cap over child poverty link
At least one in four children is in poverty in two-thirds of the UK's constituencies, the annual analysis from Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition found. 'Bold action' is needed, the campaign said ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's spending review this month, as they called for the cap to be scrapped as soon as possible. The policy means parents only receive support for up to two children through the universal credit system. Analysis of the child poverty rate and the proportion of children affected by the two-child limit found that the two are 'extremely highly correlated', adding to evidence that the cap is a 'major driver of child poverty across the UK'. In the North East, West Midlands and Wales, around nine out of 10 constituencies were found to have a child poverty rate higher than one in four. Birmingham Ladywood, Dewsbury and Batley and Bradford West were among those with the highest rates. Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor are under pressure to respond to mounting calls for the two-child benefit cap to be axed at a cost of around £3.5 billion. Ministers have reportedly been considering scrapping it as part of their child poverty strategy, which was due to be published in the spring but is now set to come out in the autumn so it can be aligned with the Chancellor's budget. Dan Paskins, vice-chairman of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said the data presents a 'bleak picture of life' for the UK's children. 'A record number are now in poverty and this is under the noses of our MPs, particularly Cabinet members. 80% of Keir Starmer's Cabinet represent constituencies with higher-than-average child poverty rates. 'The time for action is now, and the Comprehensive Spending Review and forthcoming child poverty strategy should involve bold action. 'Due to the analysis's finding (of) a strong correlation between child poverty rates in local areas and the number of children impacted by the two-child limit to universal credit, it is essential this policy is scrapped as soon as possible.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government is determined to bring down child poverty. 'We've already expanded free breakfast clubs, introduced a cap on the cost of school uniforms, increased the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes, uprated benefits in April and supported 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions. 'We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully-funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.'
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