Letters / The two-child cap is indeed a litmus test
Will those who cry ‘charity begins at home’ campaign for the removal of the two-child cap? Or are they simply seeking an excuse to berate those who care? The two-child cap is a litmus test for your principles too, not just Keir Starmer’s.
Circumstances for families are subject to change, and it is worth remembering that most of us are closer to being homeless than ever being a billionaire.
With mortgage rates skyrocketing and trying to survive through the cost-of-living crisis, even your average working family are turning to benefits, food banks and extra jobs to make ends meet, let alone a (hypothetical, but plausible) family that have gone through tragedy, divorce, or simply escaping an abusive partner.
Those on the centre of Labour say that the two-child cap will hopefully be addressed later in the year, and that it can wait while they work out what the budgets should be.
Those on the left say this is to pander to the votes Labour pulled from the right-wing and that Labour no longer represents the most vulnerable.
After 14 years of the Tories, their policy of austerity, and all the deaths along with it, we know families simply do not have the time to wait.
When considering some of the big figure budgets that are thrown around – money to the crown, money to war, defence and arms dealings, it is difficult to stomach continuing to allow families ‘at home’ to scrape by.
As a law graduate, I can second what Dr Armitage says about the cycle of poverty creating the perfect circumstances for criminality. So too, drug misuse, because if you have spent your life starving, wearing hand-me-downs and living in ‘the bad bit’ of your hometown, why wouldn’t you feel as though it’s the only thing that can get you through?
A final, cynical note – it is often said that families under the poverty line should budget better, or not spend their money on technology.
It is hard to imagine a family without a mobile phone or computer, and harder still for the DWP, who require an online account to apply for Universal Credit. Technology is no longer a ‘luxury’ – it is, absolutely, a necessity.
Leanne-Sydonie Goodlad
Shetland
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