Labour would keep two-child benefit cap, says Keir Starmer

Leader says party in power will stick with Tory policy seen as driving low-income families into deeper poverty

Keir Starmer has confirmed that a Labour government would keep the Conservatives' controversial two-child benefits cap, despite unease among his top team and leading academics over the policy, which has been blamed for pushing families into poverty.

Starmer said on Sunday that he was not changing that policy", when asked if he would scrap it if Labour wins the next election. His shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, had condemned it as heinous" just last month.