Work, not welfare, should pay, New Labour grandee David Blunkett has urged as he backed keeping the two-child benefit cap.
The former home secretary, who grew up in poverty, said giving families more money would only inspire them to have more children.
His intervention puts him at odds with the former prime minister Gordon Brown, who is leading the charge to try to abolish the cap.
It will put Sir Keir Starmer under pressure as he debates whether to raise or scrap the limit, which prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children.
Writing in The Sun on Sunday, Lord Blunkett said work, not handouts, is the best way to raise families out of poverty.
He said: ‘Surely having children that you cannot afford to feed is the legacy of a bygone era?
‘The simple and obvious truth is that child poverty springs from the lack of income of the adults who care for them. There is a limit to how much money taxpayers are willing to hand over to pay for another family’s children. Helping them to help themselves is a different matter.’
The Prime Minister is facing revolt from Labour backbenchers who demand the Conservative policy is scrapped. Last week, Nigel Farage said he would end it, further upping the stakes.
Work, not welfare, should pay, New Labour grandee David Blunkett (pictured, in 2016) has urged as he backed keeping the two-child benefit cap
His intervention puts him at odds with the former prime minister Gordon Brown (pictured, in 2023), who is leading the charge to try to abolish the cap
It will put Sir Keir Starmer (pictured last month) under pressure as he debates whether to raise or scrap the limit
Sir Keir has hinted that he would like to scrap the policy when the fiscal conditions allow, while his Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said axing it is ‘on the table’ as part of a child poverty review.
However, factions within Labour oppose ending the cap because it is seen as fair by middle-class voters who have had to make difficult decisions about the size of their own families.
Axing the cap would also cost about £3.5 billion and would need to be funded by cuts or tax rises. It would represent another U-turn by the PM, who has already backtracked on winter fuel payments and could do the same with disability benefits.
It came as the welfare minister said she would not make benefits claimants take any job, prompting the Tories to accuse her of handing them a free pass.
Alison McGovern rejected the Conservative policy of getting claimants to take on any work offered to them, telling The Sun on Sunday: ‘The Tories used to talk about ABC: ‘Any job, Better job, Career.’
‘I think that if you think about the career… If we can get people into an NHS job where they’re more likely to move on and move up, that is far better.’
But Tory shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: ‘The mask has slipped and it’s the same old Labour. Those who can work, should work. To do otherwise is unfair to them, unfair to the taxpayer and unfair to society which pays the spiralling cost of worklessness.’
A Labour source slapped down Ms McGovern, saying those on benefits must accept ‘reasonable job offers’, adding: ‘There’s no change in policy. The rules remain the same.’ Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will order her MPs to join with Labour rebels and vote against any cuts to benefits to humiliate Sir Keir.
Factions within Labour oppose ending the cap because it is seen as fair by middle-class voters who have had to make difficult decisions about the size of their own families. Pictured: File photo
Alison McGovern (pictured in 2023) rejected the Conservative policy of getting claimants to take on any work offered to them
More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a letter to the PM warning they will not support his cuts when the vote comes before Parliament later this month.
He has a working majority of 165, while the Tories have 120 MPs, meaning that if enough Labour MPs vote against the plans, the Government could be defeated.
The Tories would oppose the plans on the basis that the cuts do not go far enough, The Sun on Sunday reported.
