Streeting gives major pre-Budget speech on child poverty fuelling further leadership speculation
Streeting gives verdict on two-child benefit cap ahead of Budget announcement
- Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, delivered a significant speech on child poverty, advocating for greater action to improve life chances for children from working-class backgrounds.
- Speaking at a conference, Mr Streeting drew on his own experiences of growing up in poverty in London's East End, stressing that his mission is to "change the odds for everyone".
- The speech comes amid speculation that it could be a leadership bid, though sources close to Mr Streeting have denied these claims.
- Mr Streeting criticised the two-child benefit cap as a "terrible policy" that traps children in poverty, urging for the moral and pragmatic arguments against it to be won.
- His intervention precedes Rachel Reeves' Budget, where she is anticipated to lift the two-child cap on benefits, a move supported by many Labour MPs.