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Gordon Brown has urged Sir Keir Starmer to “rethink” Labour’s stance on keeping the two-child limit on parents claiming child benefit. 

The former prime minister also said there should be a review of current benefit measures, including the two-child rule, to assess their impact on child poverty. 

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “The tragedy is we are now writing the future history of our country by neglecting children who we’ve condemned to poverty and not being able to have a decent start in life are going to fail in the future. 

“So yes, one and a half million children are now affected by the two child rule. And I don’t think it’s properly understood – it’s not the third child or the fourth child who is the only child that loses out because of the two child rule – it’s every child, because the average loss per family is about £60 a week. 

“Now, a family on low pay or a family that is struggling can’t afford to lose £60 a week and I think we have got to rethink that.”

The two-child cap was rolled out in 2017. It restricts benefits to the first two children in most households, and means families cannot claim more than £3,000 a year per extra child.

Sir Keir has said he intends to keep the policy in place.