SNP demand Rishi Sunak drop 'unspeakably cruel' two-child benefit to lift thousands out of poverty

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An SNP MP has demanded Rishi Sunak drop "unspeakably cruel" policies to lift half a million children out of poverty across the country.Former SNP Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald has urged the Tory Prime Minister to U-turn on his decision to back the two-child limit and benefit cap policies set by his predecessors.Oswald, MP for East Renfrewshire, said the current policies where households with more than two children and where universal credit or child tax credit is claimed no longer receive additional funds is having a "disastrous impact".She said: "The new Prime Minister has made much of his willingness to break with his predecessors and disown key policies which were quite clearly having a disastrous impact, and given the shameful record of successive Tory prime ministers on tackling child poverty, he must be prepared to do so again in 2023."The policy, which was legislated for by David Cameron’s government, applies to additional children born after April 6, 2017, however exemptions apply for those who had children in a multiple birth or children conceived due to rape or coercion.However, the exemptions have caused controversy as women must disclose that they were raped in order to be eligible - known as the rape clause.The Scottish Government currently mitigates the benefit cap and devolved social security benefits are not subject to the two-child limit and rape clause.According to the latest statistics there are around 787,000 households in the UK claiming benefits with three or more children.Almost half are impacted by the two-child policy, with experts from the Institute for Public Policy Research, Trades Union Congress and Child Poverty Action Group citing the restriction as the single biggest driver of