The shadow welfare secretary had called the two-child cap 'heinous' but has changed his stance since Keir Starmer said he would not ditch it
Jon Ashworth: Labour pledges plan to beat child poverty ‘on every front’ in wake of child benefit cap rowThe shadow welfare secretary had called the two-child cap ‘heinous’ but has changed his stance since Keir Starmer said he would not ditch itFrancis ElliottJon Ashworth is in a difficult position.
In June the shadow welfare secretary described a rule stopping families from claiming for more than two children as “heinous” and “viscous” that was “absolutely keeping children in poverty”.and the issue has become a test of the Labour leader’s strengthwith a promise that a Labour government will attack child poverty on every front. He commits the state to getting the best possible picture of its scope to better target help to the millions held back by their parents’ poverty; “The question isn’t how you spend a billion extra and say that’s social justice,” he says. “When you’ve got the state spending hundreds of billions of pounds across the board you’ve got to reform the way in which you spend and look at ways you can make a difference. “I’m in politics to tackle child poverty, it’s a crusade for me, so this next Labour Government will have a cross departmental child poverty strategy, where we will confront the fundamental drivers of child poverty, which is a big commitment that we are making.”as “offensive nonsense” – “I said what I said and it’s on the record” – but sticks firmly to the Starmer line that the poor suffer the most when politicians make unfunded spending commitments. He won’t say whether he believes that it is morally wrong for the state to seek to limit family sizes. “I’m not going to pass judgement on that.” Although Starmer has previously promised to “put a focus on reducing child poverty” Ashworth insists that this is the first time the party has formally committedHe says a Labour government would, as a first step, measure how many children are growing up in relative as well as absolute poverty but also collect data to build the most accurate and detailed picture possible of growing up poor in Britain today and the damage it does to life-chances. Although there will be no formal targets – unlike under Gordon Brown, he says having proper measurements will allow progress to be monitored with regular formal reports to Parliament.
Please follow us on Google to support us United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mental health patients ‘waited over 5.4m hours in A&E last year’, Labour claimsThe data was obtained through freedom of information requests to NHS acute trusts.
Read more »
Mental health patients ‘waited over 5.4m hours in A&E last year’, Labour claimsThe data was obtained through freedom of information requests to NHS acute trusts.
Read more »
Scottish Labour activist's anti-Brexit board links to 'Euro sex' websiteLABOUR have given up all hope of rejoining the EU. At least, that’s what Keir Starmer has said ...
Read more »
SNP hit back after Labour peer calls Scottish Government 'elected dictatorship'THE SNP have hit back at “deeply insulting” comments from a Labour peer ...
Read more »
Mum goes into labour in hotel room after being made homelessLeah Brace was put up in a hotel in Cardiff Bay with her partner Connor Thomas and their 15-month-old child after being made homeless in July.
Read more »