Labour must scrap the two-child cap on benefits to lift children out of poverty, the party’s former leader Neil Kinnock has said.
Rising levels of poverty “would make Charles Dickens furious”, Lord Kinnock said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, in which he urged ministers to introduce a wealth tax.
Lord Kinnock, who led Labour in opposition between 1983 and 1992, is the latest senior party figure to pressure the current government to end the two-child limit on benefits.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown recently said ending the two-child limit, as well as the benefit cap, would be among the most effective ways of reducing child poverty.
Lord Kinnock acknowledged the government may not be able to scrap the two-child cap “all at once”.
He added: “But I really want them to move in that direction because the figures are that if that did occur it would mean that about 600,000 kids fewer are in poverty.”
Lord Kinnock suggested such a move could be funded by a wealth tax on the “top 1 per cent”.
“I know it’s the economics of Robin Hood, but I don’t think there is anything terribly bad about that,” he said.
He warned that over the decade and a half the Conservatives were in power child poverty gradually rose.
The Labour peer said: “In 15 years, starting from a position where beneficial change was taking place, we’ve got to the place that would make Charles Dickens furious.
“It’s been allowed to happen because the kids are voiceless and their parents feel powerless. I defy anybody to see a child in need and not want to help.”
The two-child limit has been long-criticised by Labour backbenchers as a driver of child poverty.
Ministers are expected to set out plans to tackle child poverty at the budget in the autumn.
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