Keir Starmer during LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast show.Keir Starmer has been accused of being “behind Nigel Farage” for refusing to scrap the two-child benefit cap if Labour wins the election.
The Reform UK leader has joined the chorus of people calling for an end to the controversial policy, under which parents are not able to claim child tax credit or universal credit for any third or subsequent child.
However, Starmer has insisted that an incoming Labour government would not scrap the policy, which was introduced by the Tories in 2017.
Taking part in a phone-in on LBC this morning, Starmer was told by presenter Nick Ferrari: “You know that Gordon Brown is opposed to this, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Angela Rayner calls it obscene, your colleague Jonathan Ashworth calls it heinous.
“Nigel Farage is ahead on this, of course. He would say he would scrap the two-child benefit cap. Why are you behind Nigel Farage?”
But Starmer replied: “Nigel Farage accepts that he hasn’t really funded any of his manifesto. If you don’t fund your manifesto you can just say you can have anything you like.
“We’ve taken the careful approach of saying every single thing that we’re putting in our manifesto is fully costed and fully funded, and we’re going to say before the election the things that we can’t afford to do because of the damage to our economy.
“This is a tough one. I know how strongly Gordon Brown feels about it and I know why he feels strongly about it. But I think one of the problems in politics is before an election people say ‘I’m going to do A, B and C’ and then after the election they don’t do it.
“I want to take a different approach and be honest with people and look them in the eye and say ’before you vote, I’m going to tell you some of the things I can’t do.”
