Starmer’s idea of giving “every child the best start” leaves hundreds of thousands of them in poverty

Keir Starmer was in Nuneaton on 10 June to campaign for his policies for UK children at the general election. He claimed he would give “every child the best start in life”:

It was a joy to spend time with children and their families in Nuneaton today.

Labour will deliver for parents and give every child the best start in life with 3,000 new nurseries and free breakfast clubs in every primary school, funded by ending tax breaks for private schools. pic.twitter.com/tskp881ImG

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 10, 2024

But Starmer has refused to commit to ending the two child benefit cap. The cap limits Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit child element to two children.

Starmer: keeping hundreds of thousands of children in poverty

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that the two child benefit cap impacts 1.5 million children, including 1.1 million children in poverty.

Abolishing the cap, CPAG states, would lift 250,000 children out of poverty. And it would improve even worse poverty for another 850,000 children. Families are losing about £3,200 per year for children born after 6 April 2017. This is when the policy came into force.

The Labour Party leader said he would not scrap the policy in mid-May:

What I can’t do is make promises that I can’t deliver on. And this is really important to the question about hope.

Because where we’ve had to say now: there are things that we might want to do but we can’t because the economy has been damaged.

As usual, Starmer peddles the establishment myth that there’s ‘no money’. That’s despite the UK having a sovereign currency it can use to facilitate the organisation of public services and also redistribute money.

Even a small wealth tax of 1-2% on assets over £10m would rebalance the economy to a less unequal place by up to £22bn per year. Ending the two child benefit cap would mean impacted families together receive (and then necessarily spend in the UK economy) £1.3bn per year.

Laughing off a young girl’s troubles

People on social media commented that a video recording of Starmer from August 2023 shows his real view on child poverty:

A young girl tells Keir Starmer they can’t afford heating

He laughs and recounts how his son is now too tall for a onesie

A vote for this privileged, austerity loving, genocide supporting, establishment Tory in a red tie is an act of self harm.pic.twitter.com/3ZMdEGxH5o

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) June 10, 2024

Starmer’s dismissal of the cost of living crisis the young girl experiences shows his elitism. And his refusal to end the two child cap demonstrates he certainly isn’t giving “every child the best start in life”.

Let’s reject Starmer (and the Tories) at the ballot box.

Featured image via Keir Starmer – YouTube