Rayner calls for 'child benefits for the middle-class to be stripped'

Angela Rayner has encouraged Rachel Reeves to strip middle-class families of child benefits payments, it has been claimed.

The Labour Deputy Prime Minister urged the treasury to 'claw back' the benefit from families where the top earner's annual salary was somewhere between £50,000 and £80,000, The Telegraph first reported.

If taken forward, the decision would undo an announcement by the Tories in March 2024 that was predicted to save 500,000 families around £1,300 per year.

Ms Rayner's suggestion was reportedly contained in the same leaked memo, in which the Deputy PM proposed eight tax rises.

Ms Reeves faced criticism this week after details of the memo were revealed and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced an about-turn on her abolition of the universal winter fuel payment.

Rayner calls for 'child benefits for the middle-class to be stripped'

Related reading

Labour tensions as Rayner 'demands middle class lose child benefit'

Angela Rayner sparks clash with chancellor Rachel Reeves over new tax

Rachel Reeves targets UK’s wealthiest in £26bn tax-raising budget

Rachel Reeves signals plan to remove two-child benefit cap in budget

Angela Rayner accused of waging 'class war' over plans to cut funding

Millions to pay more in tax as Reeves says Budget is tackling cost of living