The Education Secretary was in Newcastle to highlight the official lifting of the two-child benefit cap
Cabinet Minister and North East MP Bridget Phillipson has admitted the Government has to do more to help people in the region feel better off, as Labour faces huge losses in next month’s local elections. The Education Secretary was speaking at an event in Newcastle to mark the official lifting of the two-child benefit gap today.
Ms Phillipson, MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, said the moves to end the restriction on benefits for larger families would help lift more than 67,000 children in the North East out of poverty. She also highlighted other measures that have come into effect at the start of April, including a 4.8% rise in the state pension, improved workers’ rights and cuts to energy bills.
But she acknowledged that polling pointed to a tough set of elections for Labour in May, including in the North East where four of the five Tyne and Wear councils are having all-out elections that could lead to Labour losing control of authorities in one of its traditional heartlands. She accepted that many people who had voted for her party in the last General Election had not seen the change they had hoped for, and that worries around the cost-of-living were rising for many as the US-Iran conflict pushes up prices for petrol and other essentials.
She said: “By the end of this Parliament, this Labour Government will have lifted more children out of poverty than in any other Parliament ever on record. That’s half a million children, which is a huge step forward. It shows the difference a Labour Government is making.
“But there is more to do, especially around supporting people back into work and making sure that works pays. That’s why today, alongside lifting the two-child limit, we’re also seeing an increasing in the National Minimum Wage and the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation to make sure that, when people go out to work, they get paid fairly for what they’re doing and also have enough money to support their families too.
“This Labour Government will always prioritise support for working families. It’s why we’ve already taken steps around rolling out free breakfast clubs, expanding free school meals, a huge expansion of early years education and childcare and now today the lifting of the two-child limit.
“I know that people are worried when they turn on their television screens and they’re worried about the conflict and the impact that’s going to have on the cost of living but I hope that people will see that we are prioritising support for families. We will always back the British people, we’re on their side and I know the Chancellor will keep this closely under review. Of course, we want to see a de-escalation of the conflict because that’s the fastest way that we can make sure that people are not affected by this.”
She added: “People are impatient for change and I completely understand that. I want us to go faster in delivering the change that people want to see.
“After years and years of really tough times for many families across the region, they want that change to be felt and they want it more quickly. I completely understand that and that’s why it’s incumbent on this Labour Government to get on and deliver what people voted for and for people to feel better off.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage last months launched his party’s local elections campaign with an event in Ms Phillipson’s constituency, saying the polls on May 7 were a “referendum on Keir Starmer and this Labour Government”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also been campaigning in the region, visiting Sunderland and Redcar at the end of last week to say that her party would bring down energy bills.
AI polling by data analysis firm Bombe has suggested Reform could make major gains in Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Newcastle, following a similar victory in County Durham and gains in Northumberland last year.
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