Humza Yousaf has accused Sir Keir Starmer of a “massive betrayal” after the Labour leader said he would keep the Tory two-childs benefit cap if he wins power.

The First Minister said it appeared that the closer Sir Keir got to Downing Street “the further he gets from Labour’s founding principles”.

The Labour leader sparked anger within his open party and beyond at the weekend after saying he had no plans to end the two-child cap if his party won the general election.

The measure, dubbed the “rape clause”, limits universal credit and child tax credit to the first two children in a family unless a mother can show other children were conceived by rape.

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Sir Keir promised to end the measure when he ran for the Labour leadership, a promise also made in the party’s 2019 election manifesto.

However he now says that, while he still opposes the cap, it would not be responsible to pledge to reverse it given the scale of the Tory economic problems Labour stands to inherit.

He has told his shadow cabinet "tough decisions" will be required as part of "exceptionally disciplined" approach to the election likely in 2024.

The SNP has seized on the U-turn, claiming it shows Labour and the Tories are essentially alike.

Writing in the Daily Record, Mr Yousaf said: “Frankly, it feels like the closer Keir Starmer gets to Downing Street, the further he gets from Labour’s founding principles.”

He said Labour should support poorer families by introducing a UK-wide version of the devolved Scottish child payment, which is worth 25 a week per child to low income families.

He said: “To hear Sir Keir – who wants to be the next Prime Minister – declare that he won’t scrap the cap, after everything Labour has said, is a massive betrayal to all those Labour members who put faith in him and elected him leader.”

Mr Yousaf said blaming the economic situation is “unforgivable” and “frankly an insult to people’s intelligence”.

The First Minister’s comments came as SNP research showed that in April more than half of Scottish families (54%) in receipt of universal credit or child tax credits did not receive financial support for at least one child – with 24,160 households north of the border affected.

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In the Glasgow City Council area some 3,990 families did not receive financial support for at least one child as a result of the two-child cap in April – the highest number in Scotland.

In Fife there were 1,860 families impacted, followed by 1,830 in North Lanarkshire and 1,530 in the Edinburgh City Council area, along with 1,420 households in South Lanarkshire.

Mr Yousaf said: “Any economic plan which involves keeping children in poverty is not worth the paper it is written on. Labour seem to be forgetting that a strong social security system and economic dynamism go hand in hand.

“Providing financial support for families so they can buy necessities is not only the right thing to do, but by boosting their spending power we’re also supporting local economies.”

Mr Yousaf, who has made tackling poverty a key priority since becoming First Minister, said his Government would lift an estimated 90,000 children in Scotland out of poverty this year.

He appealed to Sir Keir, saying: “If you become prime minister, SNP MPs stand ready to work with you to scrap the two-child cap – as well as the other insidious Tory welfare cuts.

“And we’ll support you in establishing a UK-wide version of our Scottish Child Payment, as poverty campaigners have urged you to do.”

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also urged Sir Keir to ”come clean" on which other Tory welfare cuts Labour was planning to keep in office.

The Times today quoted one of the Labour leader’s allies saying: “There will be more of these to come. It’s important that people understand that.

“You can’t on the one hand say fiscal responsibility is critical and on the other come up with a whole load of unfunded commitments.”

Mr Flynn said Labour must give its position on key welfare cuts, including whether it would reinstate the pandemic-era £20 weekly uplift to universal credit, scraps the benefits cap, abolish the bedroom tax, unfreeze local housing allowance and restore Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

House of Commons library research for the SNP this week showed the two-child cap has put around 20,000 children in Scotland into poverty and around 410,000 across the UK.

Mr Flynn said: "If Starmer can't even be trusted to get rid of the cruel two child cap, which has plunged thousands of Scottish children into poverty - people will be concerned about what other Tory policies he is willing to impose against Scotland's will.” 

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week said the “sad truth” was that if Labour won the election its “dire economic inheritance” meant it could not reverse the 40 Tory welfare cuts it has opposed since 2010, which would cost up to £40bn a year.