Overview
- The Government laid its repeal bill before Parliament on Thursday, starting the process to end the Conservative-era limit on support for third and subsequent children.
- Ministers say the change will cost around £3 billion annually and is projected to reduce child poverty for roughly 450,000 children by the end of the decade.
- The Conservatives pledged to reintroduce the cap, and Reform UK said it will vote against repeal while proposing relief only for couples who are British-born and both working full-time.
- Labour’s analysis of DWP data estimates Reform’s criteria would reach about 3,700 households out of roughly 470,000 currently affected by the cap.
- The row has taken on a racial dimension, with Rachel Reeves accusing Nigel Farage of racism and Reform figures condemning her remarks, as Keir Starmer brands a Tory–Reform “cruel alliance.”