Gordon Brown has said he is “confident” the two-child benefit cap will change at the budget, as he ramped up pressure on Rachel Reeves to impose a gambling tax to pay for it.
The former Labour prime minister, and chancellor for 10 years, has been advocating to scrap the cap, which means parents can only claim benefits for their first two children.
But as the budget approaches on 26 November, he ramped up those calls on Sky News’ Mornings with Ridge and Frost – and suggested a gambling tax to fund getting rid of the cap.
Mr Brown said: “I am confident that the two-child rule will be addressed.
“We’re waiting for Rachel Reeves’s budget, which I think will mention this.
“Keir Starmer, I know is personally concerned and interested in this.
“So I’m hopeful that in the next few weeks we’ll see the kind of action that we’ve been talking about.”
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The Child Poverty Action Group has said every day the two-child cap remains in place, 109 more children are pulled into poverty by the policy.
It found that scrapping the policy would immediately lift 350,000 children out of poverty, at a cost of £2bn and would reduce the depth of poverty for another 800,000 children.
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Mr Brown, who has had a strong focus on eliminating child poverty since leaving parliament, also pushed for the government to impose a tax on gambling companies.
“We tax cigarettes at 80%, we tax alcohol at 70%, but the online gambling tax is 21%. So there’s a big case for change,” he told Sky News.
“I think they [gambling companies] could well afford to pay a tax – and I want that money to go to child poverty.
“So, move the money from, if you like, the bad, by taxing it.
“And put it to good, which is children taken out of poverty.”
Read more: What tax rises and spending cuts will Reeves announce at the budget?
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The two-child benefit cap has proved a major sticking point for Labour since they won a landslide election victory last year.
Just two weeks after coming to power, Sir Keir suspended seven Labour MPs for six months for voting to scrap the cap.
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Feelings around it remain strong in the party, but it would mean finding billions of pounds when the chancellor is already scrambling for savings – and the policy is generally popular with the public.
The latest YouGov polling found 59% of the public are in favour of keeping the cap in place, and only 26% thought it should be abolished.
