James Cleverly says families hit by cruel two-child benefit cap lack discipline

James Cleverly, who is vying to be the next Tory leader, said workers would be forced to hand over cash to people 'less disciplined than them' if the cap was lifted

Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly has said families hit by the two-child benefit cap lack discipline.

The Shadow Home Secretary - who is vying to become the next Conservative leader - suggested families claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits with more than two kids lack "personal responsibility". He ruled out lifting the cruel cap - a move experts say would lift 300,000 children out of poverty.

It comes as his rival Robert Jenrick also said he would keep the limit in place. Pressure is mounting on Keir Starmer to get rid of the Tory-imposed measure, with diverse figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn and Suella Braverman demanding it's axed.

Asked whether he would scrap the limit, Mr Cleverly said: "So we've got to recognise that we are a generous, country that supports people in need. But people also have to have personal responsibility. And every benefit is paid for by someone else."

He went on: "There are plenty of hardworking families that do the right thing - get up early, help the kids go to school, work long hours, squirrel away every single penny and I feel really uncomfortable stripping away money from them by force to give to people who are not as disciplined as them. That is wrong and it will not happen."

His remarks were met with loud applause at the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham. Mr Jenrick, now the bookies' favourite to take over from Rishi Sunak, also said he would keep the cap in place.

He said: "It's a very expensive change and there are millions of hardworking people in our country who want to see the benefit system is fair to them."

The policy, which prevents people from claiming Child Tax Credits or Universal Credit for more than two children, now impacts almost 1.6million kids, according to official figures. It was introduced in 2017 as the Tories tried to slash billions from the welfare bill.

Since Labour came to power, campaigners have voiced hopes that it will be lifted. It would cost around £3billion a year to do so. In July, Mr Starmer was hit by his first Commons rebellion as PM over the issue - with seven rebel MPs having the whip suspended for voting against the Government.

He has launched a probe into child poverty, with the findings expected to find that lifting the policy would improve the lives of tens of thousands of families.

The Child Poverty Action Group has repeatedly said scrapping the policy would lift 300,000 kids out of poverty and mean 700,000 are in less deep poverty. Alison Garnham, the CEO of the Child Poverty Action Group, told The Mirror: "The evidence is clear that axing the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty - if you scrapped it today, 300, 000 children would be removed from poverty and 700,000 would be in less deep poverty.