Apsana Begum has whip restored as Labour set to lift the two-child benefit cap

Apsana Begum has been readmitted to the government 14 months after she voted against the two-child benefit cap, a policy the Labour Party now plans to scrap.

On 26 September, the MP for Limehouse and Poplar Apsana Begum had the whip restored, 14 months after she was suspended for voting against the two-child benefit cap.

Four days later, the Guardian revealed the Labour government is planning to lift the cap in the upcoming November budget.

Begum and six other rebel MPs were suspended in July 2024 for an initial period of six months.

After not being readmitted in February, she then spent a further seven months suspended.

In a statement posted on X on 26 September, Begum said: ‘I was never told why my suspension was extended and only learned about it through a news article.’

Begum called for the whip to be restored on X on 15 September and in the House of Commons on 16 September amid speculation that the Labour Party was planning to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

After being readmitted, Begum said: ‘I want to be clear: I will continue to oppose the two-child limit at every opportunity.’

Aside from Zarah Sultana, who resigned in July 2025 to co-lead a new party alongside Jeremy Corbyn, all six rebel MPs have now been readmitted – a move that underlines the government’s new stance on the policy.

Labour’s plan to change the two-child benefit cap comes after weeks of growing pressure from within the party.

On 19 September, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson called the policy ‘spiteful.’ On 25 September, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, called it ‘the worst of Westminster.’ And just days before their annual conference, several Labour backbenchers signed a letter calling for it to be scrapped.

It also comes after it was revealed the Child Poverty Task Force – set up by the government in July 2024 – is expected to conclude that scrapping the policy would be the most effective way of lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.

Labour has yet to announce how the policy is set to change. According to the Guardian newspaper, the Treasury is exploring whether benefits could be limited to three or four children, or whether a tapered system could be introduced.

The two-child benefit cap, which was introduced by the Conservative government in 2017, limits benefits to the first two children in a family.

Since she was elected in 2019, Begum has called relentlessly for the policy to be scrapped. 

According to the End Child Poverty Coalition, 44.6% of children in her Poplar and Limehouse constituency live in poverty.

In the same statement posted on 26 November, she said: ‘Child poverty is a matter of conscience for me.’

Begum was suspended for 14 months for what she calls ‘voting with her conscience.’

Now that she has been readmitted, she will once more represent her constituency as a member of the Labour Party.

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