Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made a personal commitment to reduce child poverty across the UK, though he continues to face significant pressure to abolish the controversial two-child benefit cap that campaigners describe as "cruel".
Mounting Pressure on Benefit Cap
The Prime Minister spoke exclusively to BirminghamLive this morning, where he addressed the growing child poverty crisis and ongoing initiatives to combat hunger among the nation's most vulnerable children. During the conversation, editors shared their landmark "Birmingham: A Child Poverty Emergency" project, which former Prime Minister Gordon Brown had previously praised as vital work.
Starmer now faces a mounting clamour from anti-poverty campaigners, celebrities, and even members of his own Cabinet to remove the two-child benefit cap - a policy that restricts welfare payments to the first two children in any household. The policy is widely seen as a critical driver of continuing hardship among young families.
Birmingham's Deepening Crisis
The situation in Birmingham has reached emergency levels, with recent data revealing 46% of the city's children now live in poverty - more than double the national average and the highest figure since records began. This represents a dramatic increase from 27% in 2015.
Ten years ago, Birmingham had the eighth-highest child poverty rate in the UK. Today, it ranks third worst in the country. The Heartlands ward, located in the Hodge Hill constituency, records the city's highest rate at 71% - meaning in a typical classroom of 30 children, 21 would be living below the breadline.
The crisis disproportionately affects certain ethnic groups. While 18% of children in white-led households experience poverty UK-wide, the figures rise to 32% for Black families and 36% for Asian families. Within that group, 53% of Bangladeshi and 45% of Pakistani children live in poverty.
Celebrity Backing and Government Response
A coalition of prominent figures including Arlene Phillips, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy and Romesh Ranganathan have joined forces with the Trussell Trust to demand immediate action. In a direct letter to Starmer, they wrote: "We are writing to implore that you fully remove the cruel two child limit which is pushing 109 more children into hardship every day."
When questioned directly about lifting the cap, the Prime Minister responded: "I'm acutely aware of the pressures on families and am absolutely personally committed, as well as government committed, to a commitment to bring child poverty down."
He highlighted measures already implemented including breakfast clubs, free childcare, action on school uniform prices, and free school meals, but acknowledged "more that needs to be done."
All eyes now turn to Chancellor Rachel Reeves's upcoming Budget, where hopes remain that the controversial policy might be scrapped, though government insiders have sent mixed messages about affordability.
