Prime Minister Keir Starmer has used the launch of his new Substack newsletter to outline the government’s plans to tackle child poverty, describing the issue as central to Labour’s agenda.

In the first post on the platform, Mr Starmer said he would use the newsletter to explain “why we are doing what we are doing,” and that communication must adapt as politics changes. He said he would not post on a fixed schedule but intended to update readers regularly.

The Prime Minister chose the launch to coincide with the unveiling of the government’s Child Poverty Strategy at Ely Children’s Centre near Cardiff. He appeared alongside members of Changing Realities, a group of more than 200 parents and carers with experience of living on low incomes, who contributed directly to the strategy.

Mr Starmer highlighted the case of Stacey, a mother of two from Bristol who was widowed in 2018, as an example of the pressures facing working families. He said her experience underscored the reality that “three quarters of children growing up in poverty today come from working families.”

The strategy includes a series of measures:

• A programme of new homes to prevent families being placed in B&B accommodation.

• Free school meals extended to an additional 500,000 children.

• Expanded childcare support for families on Universal Credit.

• New rules to reduce the cost of infant formula.

• Limits on branded school uniform requirements.

• The scrapping of the two-child benefit limit.

The government says the package will lift more than 500,000 children out of poverty, the largest reduction delivered by any UK administration.

Mr Starmer also linked the policies to broader cost-of-living measures, including extended free childcare, free breakfast clubs, reduced energy bills for low-income households and an increase in the minimum wage from April.

He acknowledged the strategy required tax rises, including on high-value properties and gambling, saying the alternatives—cuts to public services or higher borrowing—were not credible. He argued that reducing child poverty was both a moral obligation and “a sound investment in Britain’s future,” citing evidence linking childhood deprivation to poorer health, lower educational attainment and reduced earnings later in life.

Reflecting on his decision to use Substack, the Prime Minister said he wanted to give the public greater insight into how decisions are made in Downing Street. “People have a right to know how decisions that affect them are taken and why,” he wrote.

He added that he intends the newsletter to offer “a little of what life is like in Number 10” as well as explanations of key policy decisions.