Phillipson suggests two-child benefit cap could be lifted

Bridget Phillipson has said scrapping the two-child benefit cap is "on the table", in the clearest sign yet that ministers could scrap the policy.

The education secretary made the comments as she vowed to put child poverty at the heart of her Labour deputy leadership campaign.

She is seeking to head off a challenge from rival Lucy Powell, who has attacked "unforced errors" on welfare since being sacked from the cabinet this month.

Benefits policy has emerged as a key issue in the contest, which will be decided in an online vote by the party's members.

Ministers have previously said they are considering scrapping the two-child limit, introduced in 2017, as part of a delayed strategy on tackling child poverty expected to be unveiled this autumn.

Sir Keir Starmer has previously spoken of his desire to ditch the cap when economic conditions allow, without specifying exact circumstances.

Neither Powell nor Phillipson has explicitly called for it to be scrapped at the Budget in late November, but they have both been keen to stress they see the move as key to the party's wider promises on child poverty.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Phillipson said tackling poverty "brought me into politics" and she would fight on the issue "day, in, day out" if she won the deputy leadership contest.

"I am clear that everything is on the table, and that includes removing the two-child limit," she added.

In an interview with the Guardian, she described the policy as "spiteful," adding it had "punished and pushed children into hardship".

Earlier this week, rival Powell called for Labour to be clearer about how and when it intends to scrap the policy, which she branded the "single biggest policy we could do to address child poverty".

She also criticised "unforced errors" by the government over its botched attempt to cut disability benefits, which has been put on ice pending a review, and cuts to winter fuel payments that were partially reversed.

The two-child cap, introduced under the Conservatives, prevents households on universal or child tax credit from receiving payments for a third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

The Resolution Foundation think tank says axing the policy would cost £3.5bn and would lift 470,000 children out of poverty.

Reform UK has also pledged to scrap the limit if it wins power, although the Conservatives have getting rid of it is not "economically credible".

Powell, who was sacked as Commons leader in the reshuffle that followed Angela Rayner's resignation as deputy leader, has said she would not want to return to the cabinet if she wins the contest to replace her.

She has touted the deputy role as a position that would allow her to champion the role of backbenchers and activists without the constraints that bind a member of the cabinet such as Phillipson.

She has dismissed as "sexist" suggestions that Labour members might vote for her to be deputy leader to signal they want Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Phillipson sought to make a virtue of her position within government, pointing to her role as co-chair of the government's child poverty taskforce and her role in extending free school meals.