Child poverty strategy (removal of two child limit): Ten Minute Rule Motion

What happened: On 16 September 2025, the House of Commons voted on a Ten Minute Rule motion calling for a child poverty strategy that would remove the two-child limit on benefits. The motion passed by 89 votes to 79. A Ten Minute Rule motion is a procedural device that allows a backbench MP to make a brief case for a new piece of legislation; it does not itself change the law, but a successful vote signals parliamentary sentiment on the issue.

Why it matters: The two-child limit, introduced in 2017, restricts child tax credit and the child element of Universal Credit to the first two children in a family, meaning larger families receive no additional support for a third or subsequent child. Removing this cap would mean families with three or more children could claim full benefit entitlements for each child, directly increasing income for some of the lowest-income households in the UK. Child poverty campaigners have long argued the policy is a leading driver of child poverty; supporters of the cap argue it controls welfare spending and mirrors the choices working families face. This vote does not itself remove the limit, but it adds parliamentary pressure on the government.

The politics: The vote divided sharply along party lines. The Conservatives provided 76 of the 79 no votes, with one Reform UK MP and one independent also voting against. Support came from the Liberal Democrats, who provided the largest bloc of aye votes at 61, alongside the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the SDLP, one DUP MP, and nine Labour backbenchers. The Labour government itself did not whip its MPs to vote and the vast majority of Labour members were absent, reflecting the party's difficult internal position on a policy it has chosen not to immediately reverse despite longstanding pressure from its own left wing and anti-poverty campaigners. The nine Labour rebels who voted aye represent a visible, if small, expression of dissent within the governing party.