Labour and Opposition MPs have tabled amendments calling for the two-child benefit cap to be axed (Image: Getty)

       Anger over Labour’s refusal to end the two-child benefit cap could bring Sir Keir Starmer’s political honeymoon crashing to an early end this week.

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       Leading children’s charities warn the ban on parents claiming Universal Credit for their third child is sending "families spiralling into absolute poverty".

       Labour MPs and members of Opposition parties have tabled amendments to the King's Speech calling on the Government to abolish the two-child limit.

       Sir Keir has announced a child poverty taskforce that will "leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life." But high-profile Labour MPs may vote to axe the cap this week - and there will be further anger in party ranks if the policy is not ditched in the upcoming Budget.

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       The latest figures show 1.6 million children are affected by the cap, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017.

       A spokeswoman for the Children’s Charities Coalition – which includes the NSPCC and the Children’s Society – warned: “In an average classroom of 30 children, nine will be living in poverty.”

       She called for the Prime Minister to “remove the two-child limit on benefit payments which is seeing more families spiralling into absolute poverty”.

       Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, described the cap as a “sibling penalty”.

       She said: “Most families receiving Universal Credit are in work and many are struggling for reasons beyond their control – such as a family break-up, the death of a partner or losing a job. Yet this policy denies families the support they need to afford the basics so they have enough to eat and can afford to heat their homes properly.

       “Children are ultimately paying the price, growing up in poverty and dealing with the consequences of this for the rest of their lives.”

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       The SNP has written to Sir Keir calling for a “four nations summit on eradicating child poverty”.

       Oxfam’s Silvia Galandini said: “It is utterly unacceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, we allow this policy to continue to fuel child poverty, adding: “This new government must seize the opportunity to right the wrongs of its predecessors and rapidly lift 300,000 children out of poverty with decisive action to reverse this policy.”

       There is also concern about the impact of the policy on parents’ privacy. Official figures show that 3,100 households with more than two children are exempt from the cap because it was revealed to officials that a child had been born as a result of a “non-consensual conception”.

       Leading Left-wingers including former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have called on Sir Keir to scrap the cap. He said that axing it would “lift 300,000 children out of poverty this month”.

       The amendment is also backed by Rosie Duffield, who has faced abuse for her views on sex and gender.

       Ms Duffield this weekend condemned the two-child cap, saying: "The Labour party needs to recognise that this is an issue of social cleansing, an anti-feminist and unequal piece of legislation, and scrap it in line with our previous party position since it’s conception. A failure to do so leaves us even more vulnerable to parties that appear to be listening to our traditional voters."

       Save the Children has warned that “no child poverty strategy will be credible unless the two-child limit is scrapped at the Autumn Budget”.

       Sir Keir last week assured MPs that he takes “child poverty extremely seriously” and his Government “will have a strategy”.

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