Two-child benefit cap: Keir Starmer to face challenge from Labour policy body

Labour person Sir Keir Starmer's refusal to abolish the two-child bounds connected claiming immoderate benefits volition beryllium challenged astatine a gathering of the party's argumentation assemblage this weekend.

Sir Keir is facing a increasing backlash from crossed his enactment implicit the issue.

Labour's National Policy Forum brings unneurotic commercialized national representatives, enactment members and the shadiness cabinet.

The meeting, held down closed doors successful Nottingham, is an important staging station successful drafting up the adjacent manifesto.

However, policies agreed determination volition not automatically beryllium included.

The contented of six argumentation documents volition beryllium finalised and sent to the party's yearly league successful October.

The enactment enactment has already accepted immoderate amendments to the draught documents - including restating the committedness to obstruction nationalisation and improving the proviso of aboriginal years acquisition - though without a spending committedness attached.

But a scope of different projected changes person not been agreed, and volition beryllium up for statement - including connected welfare.

Both the county's largest union, Unison and the store workers' national Usdaw are backing an amendment to "end the punitive features" of the payment system, including specifically the benefits headdress and the two-child limit.

The cap, which came into unit successful 2017, restricts kid taxation recognition and cosmopolitan recognition to the archetypal 2 children successful a family, with lone a fewer exceptions.

The Child Poverty Action Group estimates removing the bounds would outgo £1.3bn a twelvemonth but would assistance 250,000 children retired of poorness overnight.

Sir Keir told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the argumentation would not alteration nether a Labour government.

Although helium did not springiness a crushed during the interview, members of his shadiness furniture said it was due to the fact that this would represent an unfunded spending commitment.

The enactment wants to found economical credibility supra all, and debar giving the Conservatives the ammunition to tally a "Labour's taxation bombshell" campaign, which proved truthful palmy successful 1992 - besides aft 13 years of Tory government.

Sir Keir's critics autumn successful to 2 camps - some of which spell beyond his accustomed detractors.

The archetypal impact those who privation to spot the argumentation changed - from Unison, which nominated Sir Keir for the leadership, to immoderate erstwhile shadiness ministers, to Labour's mean person successful Scotland, Anas Sarwar.

The 2nd radical - who are muttering privately alternatively than publically - are with the programme erstwhile it comes to refraining from uncosted commitments.

This includes immoderate serving shadiness ministers.

Their presumption is astir this:

That Sir Keir committed to not changing a Conservative argumentation successful his interrogation with the BBC connected Sunday.

They consciousness alternatively - similar lawman person Angela Rayner and shadiness enactment and pensions caput Jonathan Ashworth - helium could person denounced the policy, but simply explained the wealth was not determination to alteration it yet, arsenic the Conservatives person crashed the economy.

They consciousness that attack would person near the doorway unfastened to addressing the contented erstwhile oregon if the system improves, and truthful person avoided the existent row.

Sir Keir, though, volition beryllium alert that the two-child bounds is acold little unpopular with imaginable voters than it is with enactment members.

But a shadiness furniture state of Sir Keir's denied that helium had attempted to propulsion imaginable voters successful erstwhile Labour strongholds successful the Midlands and bluish England - known arsenic the "red wall" - immoderate reddish meat.

The state insisted Sir Keir was perfectly committed to tackling kid poorness and that his robust effect connected the contented was simply to quash immoderate speculation that an unfunded committedness could beryllium wrung retired of him.

But determination is simply a wider vexation that portion Labour is attacking the government's grounds - for example, connected kid poorness - shadiness ministers are constrained successful proposing solutions.

At the argumentation forum this weekend, determination volition besides beryllium a propulsion by immoderate unions and left-wing delegates successful peculiar for the enactment to perpetrate to escaped schoolhouse meals for each superior schoolhouse children successful England.

The left-wing radical Momentum volition beryllium pushing for a much extremist docket crossed the committee this play - from nationalist ownership to rent controls and expanding planetary aid.

They are improbable to triumph galore victories but successful confederation with the unions their anticipation is that connected benefits and schoolhouse meals, the enactment volition beryllium fixed a wide message.

There are galore successful the enactment that would not motion up to immoderate of Momentum's preferred policies.

But determination is simply a wider interest successful Labour's ranks astir whether the party's programme tin inspire, and not conscionable reassure, imaginable voters.

Meanwhile, Momentum has accused Sir Keir of factionalism aft a subordinate of Labour's governing body, Mish Rahman, said helium was blocked from lasting to beryllium the party's Parliamentary campaigner successful Wolverhampton West.

The cases are the latest examples of left-leaning Labour figures claiming they are being frozen out.