The question now is just how much of the £300k spent on this environmentally harmful decision has been wasted in a time of financial and climate crisis? Rachel Reeves has delivered the first Labour budget in 14 years and, for the most vulnerable in our city, things don’t look great, with the two-child benefit cap sticking around and the winter fuel allowance being chucked away.
The two-child benefit cap disproportionately affects low-income families, pushing more children into poverty by limiting financial support to only two children. This policy fails to consider that family circumstances can change, such as through unexpected job loss, illness, or the death of a parent. The cap can also place a significant financial burden on single-parent households, where resources are already stretched. By restricting essential support, the policy risks deepening inequality and trapping children in poverty, ultimately impacting their education, health, and future opportunities.
The Child Poverty Action Group reports that: “Parents responding to the survey by CPAG, report direct harms to their children and to family life. Parents report having to keep children off school because of lack of money for basics like school shoes. Some mothers have been forced to cut short maternity leave to return to work, when babies are as young as four months. Children have been forced to give up GCSE subjects like PE because of associated costs. And parents say their youngest children are ‘clingy’ and less confident than older siblings because the two-child limit makes social activities like playgroups unaffordable.”
The Government is quoted as saying it will lift the cap “when fiscal conditions allow” but given it is not prepared to implement a wealth-tax on any of the 165 billionaires in the UK, we can see where poor children rate in the priorities, compared to a mere two per cent tax on the assets of the super-rich.
Snapping at the heels of this scandal is the proposed loss of the Winter Fuel Allowance, which is vital for helping older people – particularly those on low incomes – manage heating costs during colder months. For many retirees, energy bills consume a significant portion of their income, and without this support, they may struggle to afford adequate heating.
Cutting the allowance will increase the risk of fuel poverty, leaving vulnerable elderly people exposed to cold-related health issues, such as respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. The allowance not only improves health and quality of life but also reduces strain on the NHS. If hospitals suddenly have to deal with even more pensioners needing treatment due to highly preventable illnesses, scrapping the allowance may not save as much money as Labour expect it to.
Also getting attention was the 50 per cent increase to the cost of bus fares, which has ended up costing the average commuter hundreds of pounds more a year. Given that those on the lowest incomes are the least likely to own a car, this is a change which is going to hit the poorest in our society the hardest. Could you imagine the outrage if Labour had proposed a 50 per cent increase in the cost of filling up a car? Prioritising raising revenue from sustainable methods of transport over the most polluting, is not something we should expect from a government serious about the climate emergency.
With Remembrance Sunday around the corner, it’s hard not to compare this approach to how a Labour government dealt with the post-war financial situation; it’s a comparison Rachel Reeves has made herself. The differences, however, are stark. The situation this country found itself in post-war was nothing short of a disaster, but the political response paved the way for free healthcare, free education, a social security scheme and an avalanche of council housebuilding. Coupled with taking electricity and rail etc into public ownership, we saw a recovery that truly respected the sacrifices made during the six long years of war, and the prosperity was spread across the spectrum.
On Remembrance Day we remember the service and sacrifice of those who have defended our freedoms and protected us but also the innocent civilian lives lost in acts of terrorism and conflict. I am the first generation in my family not to have donned uniform and gone into conflict and I am truly grateful for those who gave me that freedom.
Steve Davis is Leader of the Opposition and Green Group convenor
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