THE Archbishop of York called for the removal of the two-child benefit cap on Tuesday, on the same day as seven Labour MPs were suspended from the party for voting for the limit to be scrapped immediately.

In a speech in the House of Lords, Archbishop Cottrell said: “There are measures on poverty in the King’s Speech that I welcome, particularly the Children’s Well-being Bill and the plans for free breakfast clubs, but I must take this opportunity to join others in calling for the removal of the two-child limit to Universal Credit, because it is the biggest driver of rising child poverty and has a big impact on trust in our democracy.”

Bishops have consistently called for the removal of the cap, which prevents most families on Universal Credit from receiving benefit payments for more than two children (News, 23 July 2021; News, 24 May).

Sir Keir Starmer has acknowledged that there is strong feeling in the Labour Party on the issue, but the Government’s position is to wait for the report from a newly created child poverty taskforce before making a commitment to a course of action.

On Tuesday, the SNP tabled an amendment which would commit the Government to immediately removing the cap. It received cross-party support, including from the Green Party and the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour MPs who defied the whip and voted for the amendment are all associated with the left wing of the party, and three — including the former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell — were members of his Shadow Cabinet.

The seven will now sit as independent MPs, and a decision about whether to reinstate them will be taken in six months, according to a report in The Times.

In an interview on Radio 4 on Wednesday morning, one of those who voted for the SNP amendment, the MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, said that she “slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty”.

Read more on this story in Paul Vallely’s column here