Many MPs have welcomed the abolition of the two-child limit but say the government should have focused on making the super rich pay more tax
There have been mixed reactions from Labour MPs to the government’s Budget yesterday.
The government’s decision to scrap the two-child limit is a clear winner from Rachel Reeves’ statement, but several Labour backbenchers say that the government should have raised taxes on wealth, not workers.
Reeves announced a high value council tax surcharge on homes worth over £2 million, almost doubled the tax on online gambling, and increased taxes on landlords’ rental income by 2%.
However, the chancellor opted to keep income tax thresholds frozen until April 2031, meaning working people will pay more tax ‘by stealth’.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “Everyone who fought to scrap the two-child cap and pushed for measures to make the wealthiest pay more — like the new mansion tax — can take real credit for that progress.”
He said that while the Budget had some “welcome steps” in it to help tackle the cost of living crisis, they “must only be the first steps”.
“The stark reality is that living standards are set to stagnate for the rest of this Parliament — so these must only be the first steps.
“I’ll keep pushing the government to go much further — above all to tax extreme wealth instead of hitting workers with stealth taxes — so we can finally get to grips with the cost-of-living emergency facing millions.”
Nadia Whittome MP said that “A number of measures in the Budget take steps in the right direction.”
The Nottingham East MP said that “Abolishing the two child benefit cap is the most significant and will make a real difference to hundreds of thousands of families currently in poverty.The government should have scrapped it long ago and it is thanks to tireless campaigning that it is finally going.”
“However, I am still concerned that we are not being ambitious enough, and that the wealthiest and corporate giants are not being made to pay their fair share when compared to the contributions that ordinary people are expected to make.
“While greater taxation on gambling giants, landlords and properties worth over £2 million is very welcome, I’m concerned that the freeze on income tax thresholds will leave people’s living standards at a standstill when so many are struggling to make ends meet.”
Clive Lewis MP: “Today’s Budget has some welcome steps, including ending the two-child limit and the start of council tax reform. But it’s tactical, not strategic.”
“Britain needs a plan that taxes wealth fairly, devolves real power, and brings essential utilities back under public control. Until we tackle the extraction economy at its root, living standards won’t recover and the promise of “change” will remain unfulfilled. This Budget steadies the ship but doesn’t change its course.”
Labour MP for North East Hertfordshire, Chris Hinchliff, said: “Abolishing the cruel two‑child limit and lifting more children out of poverty than any other Parliament on record will be a huge achievement for the Government and one well worth fighting for.”
“Scrapping this failed policy is a major step forward in reversing years of national decline under the Tories.”
Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, described yesterday’s Budget as “a strong budget for children”.
She said: “In scrapping the Two Child Limit, 470,000 children will be taken out of poverty; in York Central this will bring 1,650 children out of poverty. I want to thank everyone who has supported my petitions on child poverty, including the scrapping of the cap, today we have made real progress.”
Maskell also welcomed the government’s announcement that the minimum wage will go up.
She said “it will mean more money in their pockets to spend in the local economy; helping businesses and families. Pay growth under the Tories for 14 years was worse than for any other government since the 1920s, that punishment for working people whilst the richest few became even more wealthy can never be forgotten.”
On the freezing of income tax thresholds, she said she “will examine the detail”.
Maskell also said the introduction of a council tax surcharge on high value homes was positive, but added: “we urgently need to fix our tax system, to get rid of loopholes that allow billionaires to pay as much tax as nurses and school teachers”.
She also noted that “80% of millionaires and 78% of the UK public specifically support a 2% wealth tax which would raise £22bn”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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