Overview

• Bridget Phillipson called the cap “spiteful” and said “everything is on the table, including removing the two-child limit.”
• She co-chairs the government child poverty taskforce, which is due to publish an autumn strategy expected to address the cap and feed into the 26 November budget.
• Official figures show the policy affected about 1.7 million children last year, with repeal estimated to cost roughly £3.5 billion annually.
• Both deputy leadership contenders, Phillipson and Lucy Powell, have toughened their positions in favor of abolition, increasing pressure whichever candidate wins.
• Ministers are weighing funding options, with Gordon Brown urging higher gambling taxes, Rachel Reeves reviewing gambling duties, and a party conference debate on funding ruled out by officials, according to the Mainstream group.