SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn says he “hopes and expects” some Labour MPs will back his party’s amendment to the King’s Speech calling for an end to the two-child benefit cap
Mr Flynn said he has been sounding out MPs across the House of Commons to determine their position on the SNP amendment to Sir Keir Starmer’s legislative programme.
However he said reports that Jeremy Corbyn is in talks with the SNP about forming a “progressive alliance” had come as a surprise to him.
Given Labour’s majority in the House of Commons it is highly unlikely opposition amendments to the King’s Speech will pass.
Wednesday’s speech is expected to include around 35 Bills with a heavy emphasis on securing economic growth, the first of Sir Keir’s five “missions for national renewal”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Mr Flynn said there is still time for Labour to “do the right thing”.
He said: “Should they choose not to act, as it appears to be the case, this no longer sits as a Tory two-child cap, it’s a Labour two-child cap and voters in Scotland will need to reflect on that.”
Equalising capital gains tax could raise enough revenue to pay for scrapping the benefit cap, he said.
The Aberdeen South MP was asked if he has spoken to Labour backbenchers about the SNP amendment.
He said: “I would hope and expect that some Labour members would support us in that.
“But the big question facing Labour members is in particular for those Labour members in Scotland.
“Because the Labour Party in Scotland agrees with the SNP on this particular point, they think that the cap should be scrapped.”
He said a report at the weekend of talks on an alliance with Mr Corbyn “came as news to me”.
However he said that due to the numbers in the Commons, his party would have “very limited opportunities” to make change.
Mr Flynn said: “We will be seeking to create a broad coalition to do that, whether that’s independent members, whether that’s members of the Green Party, the SDLP, the Lib Dems, Plaid, to make sure that we can put forward the priorities that we believe in.”
Later, Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie told Good Morning Scotland the two-child cap had been introduced by his party to bring in “fairness” to the welfare system.
He said it “cut the cost of the welfare budget which was growing steadily out of control”.
Last month, before becoming Prime Minister, Sir Keir said he would scrap the policy “in an ideal world”, but added that “we haven’t got the resources to do it at the moment”.
Separately, the four newly-elected Green MPs will put forward their own amendment on the two-child cap.
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP said: “Every day we have children going hungry, unable to concentrate in school or struggling to ascertain even the very basics – this is the real world impact of child poverty.
“So today we’re offering Labour a positive, fairer taxation that will allow them to redistribute money from some of the wealthiest to some of the very poorest. This is a political choice that they must now make.”
Experts at the Resolution Foundation have calculated that abolishing the two-child limit would cost the Government somewhere between £2.5 billion and £3.6 billion in 2024-25, adding such costs are “low compared to the harm that the policy causes”.
