03 June 2023 , 18:00
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Labour's welfare chief has given a clear hint the party will scrap the Tories' "heinous" two-child benefit cap as he lashed out at Britain's "threadbare" safety net.
The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the policy devised by austerity Chancellor George Osborne is "absolutely keeping children in poverty".
First introduced in 2017 it restricts benefits support to the first two children and has been repeatedly been blamed for increasing poverty and hardship.
The Child Poverty Action group has previously estimated that 1.5million children are living in families subject to the controversial cap, including 1.1million in poverty.
In an interview with The Mirror, Mr Ashworth said: "The former Conservative welfare minister David Freud described this as a vicious policy. He was absolutely correct to describe it as a vicious policy."
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The senior Labour MP said a study this week warning the cap had failed to increase employment levels "exposes the fallacy of this policy", adding: "The idea that this policy helps move people into work is completely offensive nonsense".
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth greets constituents in local cafe (Paul David Drabble)Asked whether a Labour government would scrap the policy, he said: "Well we are not making specific proposals today on all of our universal credit reforms, but we are looking at how we reform universal credit, and we are certainly motivated by tackling child poverty".
Pressed again, he added: "At this stage we are not outlining our full universal credit reform policy but we are certainly determined to tackle child poverty.
"We are very, very aware that this is one of the single most heinous elements of the system which is pushing children and families into poverty today".
The Labour frontbencher also signalled a move away from the "punitive" sanctions regime currently in force, insisting it would be "reviewed and changed" by a Labour Government.
It comes after the Tories finally released a 2020 report into the system last month suggesting sanctions lead claimants to find work less quickly and earn less when they do.
Mr Ashworth said there would always have to be "conditions" for those that do not comply.
But he said: "The Conservatives think that sanctions are the way in which you push people into work. They are wrong on that, they take a punitive approach.
"What we should be doing is offering people real opportunities to re-skill and upskill. Not least because we know the labour market is changing."
The DWP will be the 'Rolls-Royce motor behind all' of Keir Starmer's missions for Government (PA)The Government has previously insisted the policy "means families on benefits are asked to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work, including considering our comprehensive childcare offer for working parents and child benefit for all children".
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Mr Ashworth also accused the Conservatives after 13 years in power of leaving the country's safety net in a "threadbare" state.
He said: "It's not just foodbanks in our local areas now, it's babybanks, it's bedding banks, it's furniture banks. It's this network of charities stepping in because after 13 years they've deliberately cut, cut and cut the social security system".
And he hit out at Tory MPs, including 49-day Prime Minister, clamouring for the Government to scrap inheritance tax, as "completely out-of-touch".
He said: "It makes me absolutely incandescent that we've got more that million more children in poverty under the Conservatives after 13 years.
"Over a million more disabled people in poverty after the Conservatives after 13 years. You've actually got 550,000 children destitute.
"That's what's happening in Tory Britain today. And for Tory MPs to say their priority is a big inheritance tax cut of course that makes me angry. This is a last gasp government that is completely out of touch with the needs of the British people."
If Labour wins power he wants the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to become a department of "opportunity and social justice" playing an integral role in Keir Starmer's five missions for government.
"When you think about the DWP is if you like the Rolls-Royce motor behind all of those missions".
He added: "You will not hit the highest levels of growth unless you get people into work and you deal with poverty and deprivation. You will not fix the NHS unless you deal with health inequalities and the impact poverty and deprivation has on people's health outcomes.
"You will clearly not increase opportunities for children if you do not tackle child poverty."
"Not only am I passionate about this role because it's what I believe politics is about - getting people out of poverty and getting people into good paid jobs - it's the Rolls-Royce motor behind all our missions and it's absolutely integral to the success of the next Labour government".
Mr Ashworth believes Labour is on course to win the next general election and said after 13 years of the Tories in power, "voters are yearning for something different".
But there is speculation the Labour leader Mr Starmer will conduct a final reshuffle before the next general election - widely expected in 2024.
Asked whether he was confident he would still be in his current role, Mr Ashworth replied: "The leader decides who to put on the pitch and who to put on the bench and I've been around long, long enough to know that's politics".