Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill: Second Reading

What happened: On 3 February 2026, the House of Commons passed the Second Reading of the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill by 458 votes to 104. Second Reading is the stage at which MPs debate and vote on the general principles of a Bill, so this result meant Parliament approved the core idea of removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit -- the rule that restricts child elements of the benefit to the first two children in a family -- and allowed the Bill to proceed to further scrutiny.

Why it matters: The two-child limit, introduced in 2017, means families with three or more children do not receive Universal Credit support for any child beyond the second. Removing it would restore payments for all children in eligible households, directly affecting hundreds of thousands of families and their children who are currently in, or at risk of, poverty. The Bill also removes the so-called "rape clause" -- a controversial exemption that required women to declare a third or subsequent child was conceived through rape in order to claim support for that child. Charities including the Child Poverty Action Group and the Trussell Trust have long argued the limit is a leading driver of child poverty in the UK.

The politics: The vote divided sharply along party lines. All voting Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs backed the Bill (361 combined), as did the Liberal Democrats (62), SNP (8), Plaid Cymru (4), the Greens (4), and the DUP (4). The Conservatives voted almost unanimously against, providing 99 of the 104 No votes. Reform UK split, with 5 voting against and 2 in favour. One point of political tension was raised by the Conservative benches: the Bill was not in Labour's 2024 general election manifesto, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves had previously ruled out removing the cap -- making this a notable shift in government policy since the election.