A Scottish Labour MP has denied that the UK party and the Scottish Labour Party are at odds over the two-child benefit cap.
Blair McDougall stated that the parties held “identical” views regarding the contentious policy.
A SNP revision to the Lord’s Discourse calling for it to be rejected was crushed by 363 votes to 103 in the Lodge.
Of Scottish Work’s 37 MPs, 36 casted a ballot against, while one – Katrina Murray – didn’t record a vote.
Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, has previously called for lifting the cap, which prevents the majority of parents from applying for child tax credit or universal credit for a third child.
After voting against the government, seven rebel Labour MPs had the whip suspended for six months.
“Absolutely identical,” Mr. McDougall claimed, denying that Scottish and UK Labour held distinct perspectives on the subject.
He stated to BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland, “I think what ministers have said to me this week on the two-child cap is identical to what people in the Scottish Labour Party are saying.”
“The position is exactly the same.”
The East Renfrewshire MP claimed that the King’s Speech’s policies, which included commitments to raise the minimum wage and enhance worker rights, would assist working families in escaping poverty.
“We decided in favor of a Lord’s Discourse which will do a huge sum to lift youngsters and others out of destitution and we casted a ballot against a change that reprimanded the public authority for not having lifted the two-kid cap after only 18 days,” he said.
The two-child cap, according to Mr. McDougall, was having a “huge impact” on individuals and should be eliminated “as soon as possible,” he stated.
In any case, he said the move needed to paid for “some way or another”, and that public funds had been left in an “outright wreck” by the previous Moderate government.
He continued: Labor governments work to lift kids out of poverty. We’re born with it.”
Mr. Sarwar has said that he will pressure Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to remove the cap, calling it “heinous.”
On Radio 4’s Today program, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that the policy is “condemning children to poverty.”
According to the Scottish Child Poverty Action Group, lifting 250,000 children in the UK, including up to 15,000 in Scotland, from poverty would cost £1.3 billion annually if the cap were eliminated.
It was implemented by the Conservative government in 2017 and has already affected over 1.5 million children across the UK and 80,000 in Scotland.
Sir Keir stated during Prime Minister’s Questions that his administration would combat child poverty “with the same vigor” as the previous Labour government, which was led by Mr. Brown until 2010.
It was in response to a question from SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who mentioned that Mr. Brown had asked Scottish voters to back Labour in order to end child poverty prior to the general election.
“However, the previous evening, Work MPs from Scotland were told to hold the two-kid cap which powers youngsters into destitution,” Mr Flynn said.
“Great driver of poverty”
SNP MP Stephen Gethins called on Labour to “put their money where their mouth is” and described the cap as a “great driver of poverty.”
He stated to Good Morning Scotland, “I think it’s really important to give working families a fair deal and also take children out of poverty.”
“We are aware that benefits the public purse in the future.”
Even though Westminster has authority over the cap, the Scottish government has been urged to lessen its impact north of the border.
According to Mr. Gethins, the Scottish government spends £140 million annually to mitigate UK policies, and paying to mitigate the two-child cap would require spending to be diverted from public services in Scotland like the NHS and education.
He continued: It is reasonable, in my opinion, to anticipate that the forthcoming Labour government will perform some of the heavy lifting.
See also: UK Parliament will vote on a two-child benefit cap