Politics

Slow handclapping heard as call to scrap two-child benefit cap defeated

The Government has defeated a King’s Speech amendment calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped.

The House of Commons voted 363 to 103, majority 260, to reject the amendment tabled in the name of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

Slow handclapping could be heard in the chamber after the result was announced.

The cap was introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne and restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.

Mr Flynn said: “Tonight, the Labour Party has failed its first major test in government.

“Labour MPs had the opportunity to deliver meaningful change from years of Tory misrule by immediately lifting thousands of children out of poverty – they have made a political choice not to do so.

“This is now the Labour government’s two-child cap – and it must take ownership of the damage it is causing, including the appalling levels of poverty in the UK.”

Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there is “no silver bullet” to end child poverty but acknowledged the “passion” of Labour MPs who were considering rebelling over the continuation of the Tory measure.

MPs who voted in favour of scrapping the two-child benefit cap

Shockat Adam (Independent – Leicester South)
Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice – North Antrim)
Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat – Taunton and Wellington)
Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat – North Norfolk)
Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat – Eastbourne)
Apsana Begum (Labour – Poplar and Limehouse)
Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat – Mid Sussex)
Siân Berry (Green Party – Brighton Pavilion)
Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat – North East Hampshire)
Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat – Chichester)
Richard Burgon (Labour – Leeds East)
Ian Byrne (Labour – Liverpool West Derby)
Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat – Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat – North East Fife)
Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat – Winchester)
Ellie Chowns (Green Party – North Herefordshire)
Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat – Dorking and Horley)
Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat – Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat – St Albans)
Jeremy Corbyn (Independent – Islington North)
Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat – Yeovil)
Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat – Torbay)
Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat – Kingston and Surbiton)
Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru – Caerfyrddin)
Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat – Carshalton and Wallington)
Carla Denyer (Green Party – Bristol Central)
Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat – Newbury)
Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party – Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Alex Easton (Independent – North Down)
Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party – Foyle)
Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance – Lagan Valley)
Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party – Aberdeen South)
Will Forster (Liberal Democrat – Woking)
Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat – Guildford)
Andrew George (Liberal Democrat – St Ives)
Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party – Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat – Chippenham)
Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat – Tiverton and Minehead)
Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat – Didcot and Wantage)
Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat – Chelmsford)
Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat – Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat – Chesham and Amersham)
Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party – Belfast South and Mid Down)
Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat – Esher and Walton)
Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat – South Cambridgeshire)
Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat – Bath)
Imran Hussain (Labour – Bradford East)
Adnan Hussain (Independent – Blackburn)
Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat – Edinburgh West)
Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat – Eastleigh)
Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat – Wokingham)
Ayoub Khan (Independent – Birmingham Perry Barr)
Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat – Wimbledon)
Chris Law (Scottish National Party – Dundee Central)
Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party – Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party – Upper Bann)
Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party – Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour – Salford)
James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat – Lewes)
Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat – North Cornwall)
Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat – Epsom and Ewell)
Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat – Tunbridge Wells)
Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat – Melksham and Devizes)
Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat – Witney)
John McDonnell (Labour – Hayes and Harlington)
Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru – Ynys Môn)
Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat – Bicester and Woodstock)
John Milne (Liberal Democrat – Horsham)
Iqbal Mohamed (Independent – Dewsbury and Batley)
Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat – Oxford West and Abingdon)
Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat – West Dorset)
Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat – Cheadle)
Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat – Wells and Mendip Hills)
Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat – Mid Dunbartonshire)
Brendan O’Hara (Scottish National Party – Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat – Richmond Park)
Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat – Stratford-on-Avon)
Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat – Surrey Heath)
Adrian Ramsay (Green Party – Waveney Valley)
Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat – Maidenhead)
Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party – Belfast East)
Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat – North Devon)
Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat – Frome and East Somerset)
Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat – South Cotswolds)
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru – Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party – Strangford)
Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat – Hazel Grove)
Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat – St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat – Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Zarah Sultana (Labour – Coventry South)
Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party – South Antrim)
Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat – Sutton and Cheam)
Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat – Tewkesbury)
Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat – Henley and Thame)
Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat – South Devon)
Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat – Cheltenham)
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat – Twickenham)
Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party – East Antrim)
Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party – Perth and Kinross-shire)
Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat – Newton Abbot)
Claire Young (Liberal Democrat – Thornbury and Yate)

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