The SNP is set to force a vote on scrapping the two-child benefit cap, putting further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Labour has faced calls to scrap the limit since the party came to power last year, including from charities, backbenchers and former party leader Neil Kinnock.
The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman will raise the issue through a 10-minute rule motion in the Commons on Tuesday, before MPs rise for recess.
Ms Blackman, the party’s work and pensions spokesperson, said: “It is shameful that under Keir Starmer, child poverty is soaring in the UK and the Labour Party is refusing to help hard-pressed families.
“That’s why the SNP has tabled a Bill to scrap the two-child benefit cap across the UK for good.
“Voters were promised things would get better, but under the Labour Government, the UK has gone from bad to worse.
“Energy bills, food prices and the cost of living are all rising, and many families are struggling to keep their heads above water.”
She added: “There can be no more excuses for failing to act.
“Keir Starmer must follow the SNP’s lead and scrap the two-child benefit cap for good – or the Labour Party will consign thousands more children into poverty and damage their life chances.”
In addition to scrapping the cap, the SNP is calling on the UK Government to abolish the bedroom tax and match the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide by raising the child and family elements of Universal Credit by £27.15 per child per week.
The SNP, backed by the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and independent MPs, previously forced a vote on the child benefit cap during the King’s Speech last year.
The push was defeated, with seven Labour MPs, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, having the whip suspended from the party after backing the SNP-led amendment.
The two-child cap was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017.
It restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.
The cap has long been criticised by Labour backbenchers as a driver of child poverty.
Research commissioned by the SNP by the House of Commons Library showed that over the past decade, the number of children living in poverty in the UK has risen from 3.7 million (27%) in 2013/14 to 4.5 million (31%) in 2023/24.
The Department for Work and Pensions has been contacted for comment.
