This week’s Spending Review simply didn’t go far enough to deal with child poverty. Especially in constituencies like Bradford East. My community was decimated by 14 years of Tory austerity cuts, something I see the effects of with my own eyes.
A recent survey by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition showed that in Bradford East, over half of all children are growing up in poverty. That’s a deeply shocking statistic. The futures of our children are being quietly stolen in plain sight.
Child poverty is not just a statistic—it is a national disgrace. It is a moral failure of political choices that have left families behind.
And frankly, the financial statement this week didn’t go far enough to start pulling children out of poverty in my constituency. In the debate, I pushed the Chancellor to explain what more the Government plans to do to alleviate and eliminate child poverty.
Scrapping the two child benefit cap
I told the Chancellor that the Government needs to take real action. Although she described Tory austerity as destructive, this Government is still rolling it out through the two-child benefit cap. It puts 109 children into poverty every day, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
That’s 109 children whose futures are being needlessly placed at risk. 109 families pushed into hardship through no fault of their own.
Struggling families won’t be helped until the two-child limit—the single biggest driver of rising child poverty—is scrapped. That must now happen in the Autumn Budget. Until we do that, this policy will continue to push thousands of children in my constituency and across the country into hardship. And that is unacceptable.
Because the truth is simple: we cannot tackle child poverty by tinkering at the edges. We will not fix a broken system by balancing the books on the backs of the poorest.
Too often we’re told we can’t afford to invest in children. But the truth is, we can’t afford not to. A society that fails its children is a society that pays for that failure again and again through higher demand on our health services, schools, housing, and the justice system.
That’s why I’ve consistently spoken out in Parliament to fight against punitive cuts to welfare that push families further into poverty. I’ve made clear that I will not support any measures that worsen inequality or remove the lifelines struggling households rely on.
An important shift
At the same time, I’ve called for a 2% tax on wealth over £10 million—a fair and proportionate measure that would raise £24 billion a year. That’s money we should use to fund the services our communities desperately need and invest in a future where no child is left behind.
There were parts of the financial statement that were better. The pledge to extend free school meals to an extra 500,000 children is a welcome step and one that could lift 100,000 children out of poverty. That is some progress.
The £2.4 billion to rebuild our crumbling school buildings is also a necessary move after years of Tory neglect. So too is the additional £1.6 billion to expand government-funded childcare. These are measures that will make a difference in homes across Bradford and beyond.
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The Government also announced £39 billion to build affordable and social housing— something I’ve long campaigned for as part of fixing the housing crisis—and £2.1 billion in transport investment, which includes backing for a new tram line in West Yorkshire that would be transformative for connectivity and opportunity in our region.
But we must keep perspective. These investments are welcome. They represent an important shift from the ideological Tory austerity of the last decade.
Child poverty is not inevitable but if we do not act, then it will remain a stain on our society.
Because if we are serious about levelling up opportunity, if we are serious about ending inequality, and if we truly believe in fairness then no child in this country should be left behind.
We must go further. We must scrap the two-child limit. We must stop the planned cuts to disability support. And we must build a system that invests in people from the very start so that every child, regardless of postcode or background, has the opportunity to thrive.
That is how we build a stronger society. And that is how we begin to right the wrongs of the last 14 years.
For their sake, we must get it right.
Imran Hussain
Imran Hussain is the Labour MP for Bradford East and former New Deal shadow minister.
