SNP MSPs Kate Forbes and Maree Todd call on UK government to end 'heartless' two-child policy

THOUSANDS of families in Ross-shire and the wider Highlands are being unfairly hit by the UK’s two-child cap on benefits, local MSPs have argued.

The SNP’s Kate Forbes and Maree Todd said that almost 13,000 children in the Highlands are affected and have called on Westminster to scrap the “heartless” policy.

The so-called ‘two-child policy’ allows low-income families to claim child tax credits or universal credit for their first two children only.

But research from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has revealed that 160,000 families have had their income slashed by the two-child limit.

Ms Forbes and Ms Todd said: “All families are valuable and worthy of support, but this heartless policy turns people away when they most need support, and leaves children to grow up in hardship.”

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