Labour suspends seven MPs over two-child benefit cap

[EasterIssland]

Several labour mps have voted in favour of snps request to remove the 2 child benefit cap and now they’ve* *had the whip suspended for six month.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c978m6z3egno

not the best beginning for this new government

Now I've seen who the 7 are, I think you are correct. They have been voted in as Labour MP's and are trying to stake their claim. The Tory press are just waiting for an excuse to say the Hard Left is still in charge of the Labour Party and these MP's are itching to prove them right. These have been slapped down not even a month into the new government.

Wales has done free school meals for all children, no stigma just feed the children. That's a good thing.

There is something you don't know about this family. You're judging without having all the facts. The partner isn't not in work just because he's father to 9 DC and doesn't have time! That's not acceptable in the rules. So either he's looking but can't find work because he's unemployable in some way, or he doesn't have to work because he's too unwell or because he's a carer for someone. She's not working because her youngest is too young so she doesn't have to, but that will change as she stops having DC
Those are all reasons not to have 9 children! This is not just about punishing adults for having children, it's about not paying people to pile problem after problem on the heads of their own children. Do 9 children have the space to sit and do their homework? To play? To have someone sit and spend time with them when they are doing homework, be ferried around to extra curricular activities? Or even be fed properly? Their parents are condemning their children to a life of poor outcomes, having to struggle to reach their potential and having to work 100x harder than a child with one sibling, even one in a poor household that wants to break the cycle of poverty that their parents are in.

I 100% agree with this. I despair of the extreme left. They prefer to posture rather than actually im-prove peoples lives.

Totally agree. Go and join the Socialist Workers Party or the Green Party if you don't agree with the Labour government. The Left have done nothing but ensure the Tories have been in power for most of the past 50 years.

Absolutely agree with AvrielFinch and DramaLlamaBangBang

They wouldn't have a seat in parliament if they stood for the Socialist Workers Party but its certainly inline with their politics

So many people using food banks is it time for food stamps.

The government with the best intentions offer financial help to poor families but can't control where it's spent. I've friends who feed and provided uniform to kids because others in the village spent it at the one pub in the village.

It stood out because it's an isolated Welsh village so they know who are the neglected children. In larger more anonymous areas these children slip through the cracks.

One boy with huge issues aged nine. Is attacking smaller children in the playground. His language and bearing threatening
Recently he beat up a seven year and slashed his body with a long nail.

But when he goes home he's sent to his room after school where he uses X box until he falls asleep. Only stopping to eat. The language he uses towards his parents especially his mother is appalling even the C word.

His parents are broken,

Most people use food banks because there is a delay in paying benefits or they have been sanctioned. They need money, not this nonsense on this thread.

Agree. They knew the consequences. KS has made it clear eliminating the two-cap is a long term goal but it wasn't in the manifesto.

If they genuinely cared about Labour making the structural changes needed to actually changing children's lives for the better, they would have used their nous and put that before the attention-seeking optics of a suspension. Led by the politically inept Richard Burgon who cares more about getting a back-pat from Jeremy Corbyn than he does the welfare of his constituents.

There're the labour equivalent of Truss - quite happy to see the IMF trashing the UK again as 'we can afford' whatever policies they want. I do have faith that Starmer will get rid of the two child policy when it's feasible.

We've working people using food banks in Wales. I can't talk about England, Scotland, Ireland because I really don't know.

Do they need money or food @AvrielFinch ?

Oh relax! You can still think she is a witch that you have nothing in common with. I imagine she is worried about low birth rates and would rather home grown babies rather than immigration.

Absolutely! The only place that I've read the accurate description was in the BBC website this morning!

When Labour were in power last time, 9 out of 10 families were entitled to tax credits and I didn’t see any of them complaining.

Really? That many?

I expect this includes the childcare part, which was help towards the cost of childcare (I think it effectively gave back the equivalent tax that was paid on the cost of the childcare).

We used to get this, but not any other part of tax credits.

One take on things ...

Because the children are who it’s for not the parents.

No it was a separate award. Nearly everyone used to get it - I remember.

The last government has used division so that some people who really are squeezed and need a bit of extra support don't get it. It makes them feel resentful for those that do.

I think it is right not to scrap the two child limit on benefits, if you cannot afford to support more than two children then you should ensure you don't have more children. I think that in order to help the children where there happen to be support should be tied to them ie free school meals, school uniform. It's not the money to support children I object to but it is the way that some people then use the money for other things.
Everyone has to make choices in life and we can't all do everything we want to - the same is true for the number of children.

I've listened to a podcast today about this. Apparently, people who work closely with government have revealed that Labour will remove the cap but right now they can't because they have to prioritise nurses and schools. Which is fair.

But nobody in politics agrees with this two child cap, even Nigel Farage apparently(!) It's widely accepted to be the main reason that so many children are in poverty. And that is unacceptable in a developed country.

Why is it awful? It seems perfectly reasonable to me. I work hard in a job I hate. Why should I hand over money to people who contribute nothing?

Don't worry, I would bet that the majority of your taxes don't even touch vulnerable children. But that's who it is for. This plan doesn't seem to be working either, because we have a problem with population decline.

A benefit isn’t the reason children are born! It’s down to parents to make choices. Some have more dc than they can afford. Others have difficulties after they lose a job or some other catastrophic thing happens and they deserve support. They can help alleviate it but so can breakfast clubs, fsm, uniform charities and similar. Most people used to think benefits were a short term helping hand. Now they are a way of life and we have so many jobs available. Why cannot part time workers of teenagers be full time? No one ever endures this happens or ensures training is given.

They are not a way of life. People in receipt of benefits have to prove they are applying for lots of jobs.

Also we don't have loads of jobs available - my daughter is on the summer break from university and despite a decent CV and a good set of A Levels she's found it impossible to get a job. Nobody even replies to her.

The two child cap cannot be the cause of child poverty. The child poverty is caused by the parent(s) being unable to afford the costs they have.

For some I totally agree this is to sudden changes in their life be it loss of job, DV etc etc whilst for others having more children was irresponsible. In both cases any support should be tied to expenditure on children.