People on benefits will not be incentivised to have more children after Rachel Reeves scrapped the two-child benefits cap, a Labour MP has claimed.
Gordon McKee, MP for South Glasgow, said the Chancellor's decision to lift the cap 16 months after seven of his colleagues were suspended for backing it was part of the Government's "moral mission".
He was speaking to Chopper's Political Podcast after posting a video using custard creams and bourbon biscuits to illustrate the UK's debt crisis, which went viral on social media with millions of views.
Asked by Political Editor Christopher Hope if it would incentivise Britons with two children on benefits "to have a third or fourth or fifth", Mr McKee replied: "I don't think people are having kids because they're getting extra benefits. I just don't believe that. What I do believe is some kids have been kept in poverty. And because of the decision yesterday from Rachel [Reeves], half a million kids are no longer going to be in poverty."
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The change will see the two-child limit removed from Universal Credit from April 2026.
The limit had restricted the UC child element to £3,500 a year for the second child.
Gordon McKee told GB News benefit claimants will not be encouraged to have more children after two-child cap was axed
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A forecast from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility — which examined the outcomes of the Treasury's decisions — said 25,000 more families will claim benefits thanks to Labour increasing the incentive to be on welfare.
The fiscal watchdog said its removal will cost the Government £2.3billion in the next financial year, rising to £3billion by 2029/30.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled the Autumn Budget on Wednesday
| PAMr McKee said lifting the cap, which was introduced by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne more than a decade ago, added: "It's the right thing to do, and it's the right thing to do for those kids. It's the right thing to do because we're the Labour Party and that's what we believe in. It's also the right thing to do for the country."
He said the current cap meant families on benefits with more than two children were condemned to life without chances in poverty.
Mr McKee said: "I think the kids shouldn't be punished, right? I mean, we're talking about kids growing up in poverty, and I think that we shouldn't be doing that. And by the way, this policy was introduced by George Osborne. It was brought in as a political device to divide politicians... In some sense from George Osborne's narrow perspective it worked because it divided people. But rather than politicians paying the price, it was poor kids in Britain paying the price. And I don't think that's right."
He insisted: "There's also a moral mission to lift some of the poorest kids in Britain out of poverty, because it's the right thing to do for them. It's also the right thing to do for the country. By the way, these are the lawyers, doctors, builders, engineers of the future. And if they're growing up in poverty, then they're not [getting those opportunities]".
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