Overview

• The government’s child poverty taskforce will publish an autumn strategy before the end of the year that will address the cap’s future, minister Stephen Timms said.
• Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, now on the Labour deputy leadership ballot, called the policy “spiteful” and confirmed that removing it is being considered.
• Deputy leadership rival Lucy Powell urged a clear commitment to ending the cap and said Gordon Brown’s proposal to raise gambling taxes deserves careful consideration.
• Official figures show the limit affected about 1.7 million children last year, with abolition estimated to cost roughly £3.5bn annually.
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not committed to scrapping the policy but has declined to rule it out, as charities press for its removal in the forthcoming strategy.