Yvette Cooper was put on the spot by Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid over Sir Keir Starmer’s latest U-turn.
The shadow home secretary defended Labour’s plan to keep the Conservatives’ two-child benefit cap despite Sir Keir saying it should be scrapped during his leadership campaign.
Presenter Ms Reid asked the Labour frontbencher: “Contrast to when he was campaigning to be leader of the party. We must scrap amongst other things the two-child limit and benefits cap.
“This is another U-turn isn’t it and it’s something that really could ease the cost of living crisis for thousands of families. Why has he changed his mind?”
Ms Cooper stressed that the party’s focus is on economic responsibility.
The Labour MP said: “What Labour’s been clear about is we have to tackle the cost of living crisis and we also will always make sure that the proposals we put forward are fully costed and funded so that we can actually deliver them.
“And I think that’s what people want to see, they want to see a credible plan.”
But Ms Reid highlighted arguments from critics of the cap that it is a leading cause of child poverty among low-income families.
She added: “You as the Labour want to represent those people who are currently being left in poverty by a cap which seems to many people completely unfair then that would be a policy worth pursuing.
“The fact of the matter is Keir Starmer thought it was something worth pursuing but then U-turned on it. Just one of a number of U-turns he’s done.”
Ms Cooper replied: “Well what he’s said is we’ve got to fund everything. So here are the things we’ve said we will do, that we will fund, that will help tackle child poverty.
“That includes free breakfast clubs for children across the country so that kids aren’t starting the day hungry. That’s properly funded by getting rid of the unfair non-dom tax loophole that’s only enjoyed by the richest people in the country.
“We’ve talked about extending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies so we can use that to help people with the cost of living.
“We’ve set out proposals for requirements on mortgage companies to help people struggling with their mortgages.”
Sir Keir yesterday confirmed a Labour government would keep the two-child benefit cap.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that he was “not changing that policy” if Labour wins the next election despite growing calls from poverty campaigners for it to be abandoned.
When he was running for the Labour leadership in February 2020 he insisted “we must scrap the…. two-child limit” as he set out a series of ideas to “tackle the vast social injustice in our country”.
But the move to keep the policy risks angering those on the left of his party and some of his own shadow cabinet.
In an interview with the Mirror last month, shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the two-child benefit cap was “heinous” and “absolutely keeping children in poverty”.
Meanwhile, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner in 2020 branded it “obscene and inhumane”.
And Labour MP Rosie Duffield yesterday described the policy as “one of the most unpleasant pieces of legislation ever to have been passed in the UK” in response to Sir Keir’s comments.
