Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill Committee: New Clause 3

What happened: On 23 February 2026, the House of Commons voted on New Clause 3 during the committee stage of the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill. The clause was defeated by 256 votes to 73. The government, with the full weight of the Labour and Labour and Co-operative parties voting no, blocked this amendment from being added to the Bill.

Why it matters: The Bill itself removes the two-child limit on universal credit -- the rule that restricts child element payments to the first two children in a family -- a change the government says will lift over half a million children out of poverty. New Clause 3 sought to go further than the government's own proposal. Its defeat means the Bill will proceed in its original form, without the additional provisions the amendment would have introduced. Families with three or more children stand to benefit from the core Bill, but those pushing for more expansive changes to the benefit system did not secure them at this stage.

The politics: The vote exposed a division between the governing Labour Party and a cross-party bloc of opposition MPs who wanted stronger action. The Liberal Democrats provided the largest block of aye votes with 53, joined by the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the DUP, and one Conservative. Labour MPs voted unanimously against the amendment, holding the government line. The defeat of this and related amendments did not derail the Bill itself -- the Third Reading passed the same day by 361 to 84 -- but it reflects ongoing pressure from parties to the left of the government, and from some Labour backbenchers associated with previous rebellions, to move faster and further on child poverty.