Scottish Labour MP defends party after vote on two-child cap

A Scottish Labour MP has defended the party’s stance in refusing to vote to scrap the two-child cap on some benefits, insisting axing the policy would “cost an extremely large amount of money” and must be affordable before ministers can act.

Blair McDougall said the Labour Government has to deal with “fixing the public finances” after 14 years of Tory rule before it can “begin to do the things we would like to do, like lifting the two-child cap”.

He was speaking after Sir Keir Starmer suspended seven Labour MPs who voted for an SNP amendment calling for the cap, which restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born for most families, to be lifted immediately.

None of the seven MPs who rebelled have their seats in Scotland, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn saying afterwards the vote showed Labour had “failed its first major test in Government”.

He added: “Labour MPs had the opportunity to deliver meaningful change from years of Tory misrule by immediately lifting thousands of children out of poverty – they have made a political choice not to do so.

“This is now the Labour Government’s two-child cap, and it must take ownership of the damage it is causing, including the appalling levels of poverty in the UK.”

But Mr McDougall, who was elected as the MP for East Renfrewshire earlier this month, argued the new Government is acting to tackle poverty in other ways.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I grew up in a single-parent family that relied on benefits, so for me this is a very personal matter.

“We’re giving them the hope that when they go into work they can be paid enough to support their families, that they can have regular hours, that they can afford their energy bills again. And that is a huge step forward for those families.”

Speaking about the vote, he added: “What we did last night was we voted for a King’s Speech which will do an enormous amount to lift children and other people out of poverty, and we voted against an amendment which criticised the Government for not having lifted the two-child cap after just 18 days.”

Regarding the ending of the cap, he said: “We were always clear that this is something we want to do, lifting kids out of poverty is what Labour governments do, it’s in our DNA.

“But we were also very clear in the election and very clear last night that that has to be paid for somehow and we know the public finances are an absolute mess, that is what we have been left by the Tories.

“So this is a question of fixing the public finances so we can begin to do the things we would like to do, like lifting the two-child cap.”

Scrapping the policy, first introduced when George Osborne was chancellor in 2015, would “cost an extremely large amount of money”, Mr McDougall said.

While he insisted Labour wants to axe it, “the question is one of affordability at the moment”.

He said the Government is already looking to tackle poverty in other ways, noting it has outlined measures to raise the minimum wage, deal with “exploitative employment practices” such as zero-hours contracts, and tackle fuel poverty.

With senior figures in Labour in Scotland, including Scottish leader Anas Sarwar and former prime minister Gordon Brown, amongst those having spoken out against the two-child cap, Mr McDougall denied there is a rift in the party on the issue.

“Everybody in the Labour Party is clear this is something we want to do,” he said.

“We expect it to be done as quickly as is possible, but it is contingent on getting the wider economy sorted out.

“I have faith this is a Government which will go the extra mile for these kids. I know myself and all the other Labour MPs I speak to are pushing the Government to do this as quickly as is possible.”

Mr McDougall was also clear that MPs “knew that to vote against the whip, there are always consequences”.

Labour has suspended the whip from former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Zarah Sultana.

“It was a handful of MPs and they have been dealt with in the normal way,” Mr McDougall said.