Yesterday Harriet Harman told the Sunday Politics Labour would be backing the chancellors plan to limit child tax credits to the first two children. But, not so fast.... first Andy Burnham, then Yvette Cooper joined Jeremy Corbyn in making clear that they were not on board with Harman’s plan.
There’s a row going on about whether and to what extent the Shadow Cabinet had been consulted on this announcement. Harman will address the Parliamentary Labour Party this evening, where the reception should be interesting.
Harman’s argument was that Labour could not indulge in “blanket opposition”, pointing out that the electorate had endorsed £12bn of welfare cuts and arguing that Labour needed to understand the discomfort of families who choose not to have more children for financial reasons. In response, Burnham and co reject this approach.
In other news the Newcastle Central Labour Party have backed ultra left candidate Jeremy Corbyn. You could not make this up.
