Labour must scrap the two-child cap on benefits to lift children out of poverty, the party’s former leader Neil Kinnock has urged.

Rising levels of poverty “would make Charles Dickens furious”, Lord Kinnock said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, in which he also called on ministers to introduce a wealth tax.

The peer, who led Labour in opposition between 1983 and 1992, is the latest senior party figure to pressure the government to end the two-child limit on benefits, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017.

The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown recently said ending the two-child limit, as well as the benefit cap, would be among the most effective ways of reducing child poverty.

Lord Kinnock acknowledged the government may not be able to scrap the two-child cap “all at once”.

He added: “But I really want them to move in that direction because the figures are that if that did occur it would mean that about 600,000 kids fewer are in poverty.”

Lord Kinnock suggested such a move could be funded by a wealth tax on the “top 1%”, adding: “I know it’s the economics of Robin Hood, but I don’t think there is anything terribly bad about that.”

He warned that over the decade and a half the Conservatives were in power, child poverty gradually rose.

The Labour peer continued: “In 15 years, starting from a position where beneficial change was taking place, we’ve got to the place that would make Charles Dickens furious.

“It’s been allowed to happen because the kids are voiceless and their parents feel powerless. I defy anybody to see a child in need and not want to help.”

Last month, government data showed a further 37,000 children were affected by the two-child benefit limit in the year to April, with nearly 1.7 million now living in households affected by the policy.

A government spokesperson said at the time: “Through our plan for change, we are reforming the broken social security system to help those who can work into good, well-paid jobs, which is the best way to improve living standards for families … The child poverty taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.”