Starmer faces first rebellion as MPs set to vote on ending two-child benefit cap as 1.6m kids miss out on £288 a month

REBEL Labour MPs have vowed to defy Sir Keir Starmer and support scrapping the two-child benefit cap in a crunch vote tonight.

In an early headache for the PM, more than 10 hard-left mutineers are set to support an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech, calling for the cap to go.

EPA

Sir Keir Starmer faces his first rebellion as PM tonight, with Labour MPs set to back a vote on scrapping the two-child benefit cap[/caption]

For weeks Sir Keir has come under mounting pressure from his own benches to axe the policy, which was introduced by the Tories in 2017.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that under the cap 1.6million children miss out on up to £288 a month in extra support.

But the PM has insisted the government has to do “the sums” before committing to the policy.

He’s also argued that scrapping the cap won’t be a “silver bullet” for resolving child poverty.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has remained adamant the move is unaffordable in Britain’s sluggish economic environment.

This morning DWP Secretary Liz Kendall claimed she is “absolutely passionate about driving down child poverty”.

But she added: “I’m not into a wink and a nudge politics.

“I’m not going to look constituents in the face and tell them I’m going to do something without actually having done the sums, figuring out how I’m going to pay for it, figuring out how we transform opportunity for those children.

“It’s got to be part of a much bigger approach.”

Ms Kendall insisted that Labour’s “dire inheritance” from the Tories “overnight”, means welfare boosts cannot come quickly.

Stirring the pot today, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “Keir Starmer must not fail his first major test in Government by refusing to scrap the cap.

“It is the bare minimum required to tackle child poverty – and to begin to deliver the change that people in Scotland were promised.

“Labour MPs have a choice today.

“They can lift children out of poverty by voting for the SNP amendment to abolish the cap – or they will push children into poverty by keeping it in place.”

Among the hard-left Labour MPs set to rebel is former shadow Chancellor to Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell.

He said: “I’ll be voting for the SNP amendment. I don’t like voting for other parties’ amendments but but I’m following Keir Starmer’s example as he said put country before party.

“So I’m putting lifting children out of poverty before party whipping or anything like that.”