Dear Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
17% of the children in your community are hungry.
The biggest driver of rising child poverty in the UK is the two-child benefit cap, the policy that limits government support to parents with two or more children.
A shocking 42% of children in families with three or more siblings are living in poverty—a sharp increase from 36% a decade ago.
This cruel and pernicious policy—imposed by the Tory government and now upheld by Labour—is driving children and families into deeper misery.
In Labour’s manifesto, you committed to an “ambitious strategy” to tackle child poverty. Now, as Chancellor, it is up to you to deliver on that promise.
The money is right there.
Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) currently provides business owners with a £1 million low tax relief when selling their businesses.
It’s ridiculous even on its own terms, but certainly when weighed against the future of our children.
With just days left before the Autumn Budget, we say: abolish the BADR and use the money saved to scrap the cap.
The cost of scrapping the cap is £1.3 billion, a small fraction compared to the staggering £39 billion annual toll that child poverty places on the UK economy.
Waiting until the next budget will push many more children into poverty, depleted health, poorer educational outcomes, and worse life outcomes.
It’s not about whether we can afford to scrap the cap—it’s about whether we can afford not to.
I am calling on you, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to end the two-chid benefit cap.
Yours,
The undersigned
