Uh oh. While Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity has had a post-election bounce (with an approval rating now at 19 per cent compared to -1 before the Labour win) not everything is looking rosy for the new Prime Minister. Splits over certain policy stances are beginning to emerge and the two-child benefit cap is taking centre stage.
Rosie Duffield is one of the latest Labour MPs to hit out at the scheme – blasting it as ‘social cleansing’ and an ‘unequal piece of legislation’. Calling on Starmer’s army to scrap the rule, Duffield writes in the Sunday Times today that:
It is a heinous piece of legislation and the reason above all others that I was driven to stand as a member of parliament… When proclamations on benefits are handed down by the great and the good in Westminster, the stark divide between the wealthy and those struggling is never more visible… The cruelty of the two-child limit is Gilead-level. Like in The Handmaid’s Tale women are subjugated according to their social class. It legislates against women’s autonomy over their own bodies, the exact opposite of anything that could possible be described as a Labour party value.
Strong stuff. The Canterbury politician joins over a dozen of her colleagues in signing an amendment to the King’s Speech on the matter, while Zarah Sultana said on Laura Kuenssberg’s show today that scrapping the cap is ‘a matter of political will’ and that Labour ‘can fund this commitment if we want to’. Oo er.
In fact, the government saw a total of four amendments tabled on the cap, with the SNP having been particularly vocal on the issue over the past 12 months and receiving backing from Plaid Cymru, the Greens and Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn. And Duffield herself has found some rather unlikely allies in former home secretary Suella Braverman and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who have also attacked the policy. It’s certainly an interesting display of cross-party support.
Starmer looks set to face the first rebellion of his premiership next week, with amendments due to be debated on Monday. As the Scottish party is also making noises against the policy, the pressure for the Labour lot to drop the cap is only continuing to grow. Talk about trouble in paradise…
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