Two-child limit
The government’s child poverty taskforce, led by ministers, is expected to produce an “action plan” around June — and has revived internal Labour pressure on Reeves to scrap or modify the two-child limit on benefits, brought in by the Conservatives but kept by Labour.
This will give a sharp focus to the welfare reform debate. One Labour MP said Treasury and DWP officials are “talking at cross purposes,” adding: “I think the Treasury is invested in the cuts and DWP is invested in getting back to work. For f*ck’s sake, they briefed against Liz Kendall in the papers … because she was saying this is about getting people back to work, and they were saying no, this is about cutting the benefits bill. Those things are similar but they are not the same.”
One union official described the coming economic statements as “for the financial markets, not the public” and warned that Reeves’ cuts and gloom — after limiting winter fuel payments for the elderly — could cast her in the same light as former Conservative PM Margaret Thatcher, who was dubbed “milk snatcher.”
Immigration and EU
The Home Office is due to publish an immigration white paper in spring, adding meat to Starmer’s promise to cut legal net migration into the U.K. Visas, fees, and rules for international students and their dependents are all in scope.
This will see the reality of skills shortages butt up against the Home Office’s political desire to see numbers fall. Labour officials have always said they are focused on improving skills and training — and migration crackdowns inherited from the previous Tory government mean numbers are already likely to fall. But the public will expect to see results fast. Aides will also be braced for press coverage of the usual summer rise in small boat crossings of the English Channel.
What will happen to the EU’s repeated calls for a “youth mobility” scheme — allowing young people to live and work for a set time period in the U.K. — remains a mystery. Starmer has promised to “reset” the U.K.-EU relationship and has not ruled out a youth mobility scheme, but refuses to be drawn on any details.
