SNP's hypocrisy laid bare as fact-checker reveals party could scrap two-child benefit cap

The Scottish National Party has been left spluttering after it has been proved by a fact-checking service that the Scottish Government can mitigate against the two-child benefit cap. SNP leader Stephen Flynn is currently leading calls for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to scrap the policy.

In what has been described as a "car crash" interview, Flynn admitted that he believed it was "unreasonable" for the Scottish Government to axe the two-child benefit cap. The SNP leader also went on to claim repeatedly that the issue was "reserved" despite mitigations available for it north of the border.

The Scottish National Party have repeatedly called for the UK Labour Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which means that parents are unable to claim money for their third or subsequent children. This cap does not apply if the parents meet particular conditions, such as being able to prove the child is a product of rape, or for twins etc.

However, after these moves, Flynn was fact-checked by the BBC, who have proved that the Nat Executive could easily introduce legisltaion to ensure that families in Scotland will not be hit by it. Taking to social media, one of Flynn's MPs and Dundee representative Chris Law said that it is "reserved".

"It’s reserved and we have partly mitigated through the Scottish child payment. Mitigating Westminsters cruel policies does take monies from elsewhere. What would you choose?," he penned. The Scottish government have come under criticism for their economic strategy, spending money on a number of failed initiatives as well as the council tax freeze.

According to The Ferret Fact-checking service, it is only "half true" that the SNP has the power to scrap the two-child cap, "The Scottish Government has powers, under the Scotland Act, to add discretionary payments to reserved benefits. It could fund the mitigation of the two-child limit in Scotland, but would have to pay for it from the Scottish Government budget directly."

This means that the SNP could in fact mitigate for the "two child cap" if they used devolved policies, and called for the UK Labour government to end it. This tenuous topic is set to be debated with the King's Speech this week at Westminster.

The fact checking service also made the point that due to devolved powers in Scotland, the Scottish government are able to top-up benefits: "In the Scotland Act, 'discretionary top-up payments' can now be made to people in Scotland who are entitled to UK-wide benefits.

"These can be done on a case-by-case basis or to provide 'on-going entitlement to specific or all benefit claimants.' In response to a freedom of information request, the Scottish Government said it is unable to scrap the two-child cap 'at source.' This is correct, but ministers could provide top-up payments to stop the cap affecting Scotland.

"The Scottish Government already used these powers to effectively end other UK Government policies having an impact in Scotland, such as the spare room penalty, known as the ‘bedroom tax’. This reduces universal credit housing support for those considered to have a spare room. The Scottish Government fully funds the mitigation of this, at a cost of £69.7m in 2022-23."

So, as a result, if SNP ministers wanted to get rid of the benefit cap, they could use powers they have under the Scotland Act to "top up" benefits with discretionary payments.