If the leaks are correct, Rachel Reeves will use today’s Budget to abolish the two-child benefit cap. Another £3.4 billion a year will flow to larger families. On paper, half a million children will be lifted out of poverty. Labour backbenchers will congratulate themselves on a job well done, and columnists on the left will cheer that compassion has been restored. Forgive me for not joining in with the applause.

Addiction, chaos, and learned helplessness don’t vanish because the monthly bank transfer gets a little fatter

For 20 years I’ve been a foster carer working closely with underprivileged families, and what I’ve learned is that simply giving parents more cash won’t necessarily give those third, fourth or fifth children a better start.

I once collected five siblings from a house th

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