Labour leader Keir Starmer just made headlines by announcing a fully costed plan to cut the price of baby milk. He says this move could put £500 back in parents’ pockets in their baby’s first year alone. The move is part of an attempt to address rising family costs and child poverty across the UK.
Starmer highlighted the significance of this plan during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), where he reiterated his criticism of the Conservative government’s two-child benefit cap. He claimed that the policy has resulted in tremendous economic distress. Theirs has been the almost decade-long policy on the two child benefit cap that’s had one outcome and one outcome only – it’s impoverished hundreds of thousands of children. They ought to be totally embarrassed by that fact. On the other hand, I’m deeply honored by raising a half million kids above the poverty line, because I really think that every one of those kids should get a fair shot in life.
The Labour government’s strategy includes a reform of how baby formula products are packaged and sold, an approach intended to simplify choices for parents. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, went further than this, saying that current packaging “disgracefully weaponises parents’ instincts”. He stated, “It’s not right that manufacturers have been able to package up these products in a way that plays on the instincts of new mums and dads who are just trying to do what’s right for their child.”
Starmer spoke of his concerns regarding the financial burden parents are under. He pointed out that parents are often misled into believing they need to pay more for better quality formulas. He went on to say that as a result of these marketing tactics families are left “hundreds of pounds out of pocket.” His remarks come just days before the government is expected to release their next child poverty plan. This strategy would do much to ease financial stress on families, too.
This new plan’s introduction comes at a pivotal time as a national conversation develops around the benefits of child welfare approaches and providing economic support for families. Starmer’s incoming government is pledged to shake up baby formula pricing. Sidewinding all of this, they’re addressing the big picture issues such as confronting child poverty across the UK.