A bid by the SNP to scrap the two-child benefit cap has been supported in the Commons, including by seven Labour MPs.

The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman forced a vote on the issue through a 10-minute rule motion in the Commons on Tuesday, branding the current policy “cruel”.

The Conservatives said they could not support the motion, with one MP saying the cap is “fair to the hard-pressed taxpayer”.

The limit was introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne and restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.

Labour’s Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford) and Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) were among those who supported the Bill.

Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Jon Tricket

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