Rachel Reeves brands critics of benefits splurge RACIST as Labour boasts about law scrapping two-child cap reaching Parliament
Rachel Reeves today hit out at racist criticism of her decision to scrap the two-child allowance limit.
The Chancellor accused Nigel Farage of wanting only white people to get welfare after warning that Labor’s policy meant money for ‘too many foreign-born people’.
The bill to remove the upper limit is being officially presented to Parliament, along with a new tax increase threshold, after the move in question was announced in the November Budget.
Despite initially warning of the £3 billion annual cost, the government bowed to huge pressure from Labor MPs and ministers.
Supporters say lifting the cap would lift about 450,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
Rachel Reeves accused Nigel Farage of wanting only white people to get welfare after warning Labor’s policy would benefit “too many foreign-born people”
Mr Farage said he supported lifting the cap but only for ‘British working parents’.
A family with one adult full-time worker and one part-time worker takes home around £28,000 after tax; but estimates by the CSJ think tank suggest this figure is much less than benefits currently available to larger families
Keir Starmer is attacking Reform and the Conservative Party, accusing them of forming a ‘cruel alliance to push needy children back into poverty’.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ms Reeves suggested Mr Farage’s comments about “foreign-born” benefit recipients were racist.
‘I really don’t care what color a child’s skin is; Some deserve to be in poverty, some don’t? “This makes me quite angry,” he said.
‘Does Nigel Farage want to go around saying ‘white’? Yes you can get the money. Black? No sorry this is not for you’. What kind of country does he think we are?
‘If your next door neighbor works in the NHS, has lived here all his life, his children have lived here all their lives but he was born somewhere else, are we saying that family deserves to grow up in poverty while the person next door doesn’t? This is not the kind of country I believe in.’
The row drew an angry response from Reform policy chief Zia Yusuf, who insisted it amounted to ‘ethno-nationalism’.
He posted on X: ‘He believes only white people can be British. He accused Nigel Farage of racism for wanting the 2-child limit to remain in place for all but British-born families and for wanting to equate ‘foreign-born’ with ‘non-white’.
Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the ‘most effective way to tackle child poverty is to build a stronger economy’.
He said: ‘Labour’s approach does the exact opposite. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves don’t have the backbone to stand up to left-wing MPs so they are increasing welfare spending paid for by higher taxes, which kills growth and makes jobs costly.’
The row drew a furious response from Reform policy chief Zia Yusuf, who insisted it amounted to ‘ethno-nationalism’
Keir Starmer is attacking Reform and the Conservative Party, accusing them of forming a ‘cruel alliance to push needy children back into poverty’.
A Reform England spokesman said: ‘We are a pro-family and pro-child party.
‘The Labor Government is introducing a bill that will benefit large numbers of foreign nationals.
‘Our policy prioritizes British working parents.’
Mr Farage had previously said his party would also abolish the two-child limit, but later clarified it would only apply to families where both parents are British and work full-time.
Of the 470,000 households affected by the cap, only 3,700 have two adults working full-time; this is less than 0.8 percent of the total.
Ms Reeves blasted Labour’s tax return with a £30bn increase in the Budget.
It also announced the removal of the two-child benefit limit as part of a spending spree that sees projected welfare spending rise by £16bn a year.
Kemi Badenoch branded the package the ‘Employee-paid Benefits Street Budget’.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr McFadden defended the cost of the policy as he toured broadcast studios this morning.
He told Sky News: ‘We came into office with a manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty. We did this the last time we came to power. Child poverty has increased by nearly 900,000 since 2010.
‘I don’t just see this as a £3 billion cash transfer, I see it as an investment in children’s futures, because we know that children from the poorest families will do less well at school, less than a quarter of them get five good GCSEs, we know they are four times more likely to have mental health problems later in life.’
