Families receiving benefits are able to claim substantial discounts at major UK attractions, while those working pay more than £100 for the same trips.

A family of four can visit the Tower of London for just £4 instead of £111 if one parent receives universal credit.

While entry to Buckingham Palace, which is typically £99 for a family of four, is just £1 a ticket for those on universal credit, a saving of £95 for two adults and two children.

More than 80 attractions give discounts to benefit claimants, with MPs reacting furiously to the loophole with one saying the system created a 'two-tier system that punishes work'.

London Zoo offers universal credit claimants an £82 reduction, reducing a family ticket down from £108 to £26.

Westminster Abbey provides a £60 saving from its standard £62 family price, costing families just £2. 

HMS Belfast provides a £68 saving, with St Paul's Cathedral, Kew Gardens, Kensington Palace and the Cutty Sark all offering similar reductions.

Around 106,000 visitors used £1 tickets to gain entry to the Tower of London from April 2025 to March 2026, Historic Royal Palaces said.

Meanwhile, London Zoo sold 300,000 reduced tickets in 2024/25, requiring only a screenshot or PDF as proof of eligibility. 

The two-child benefit cap, which was brought in by the Conservatives to restrict child benefits to the first two children in most families, was brought to an end on Easter Monday.   

The new policy, which previously restricted child tax credit and Universal Credit to the first two children in most households, is expected to cost taxpayers £3.5billion a year.

The Tories have criticised Labour's decision to scrap the two-child cap, which is worth £3,647 per child per year, warning it will 'cost billions, reward worklessness and leave working families picking up the tab'.

Research by the Conservatives suggests the benefit windfall may be heavily concentrated, with jobless families in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford and Glasgow set to receive more than £200million extra in child benefits annually.

The largest families may qualify for more than £10,000 a year in additional benefits, according to the research.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'While working people struggle with rising fuel and food prices, Keir Starmer is giving another handout to those on benefits.

'The Conservatives believe in fairness and that those on welfare should have to make the same choices about their family as those who aren't.

'That's why we would reinstate the two-child cap and use the savings to bolster our Armed Forces.'

The cap, which was introduced in 2017 and limits parents to claiming universal credit or tax credits for only their first two children, was axed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her last Budget.

But, in a furious political row, Labour hit out at the Conservatives for 'fiddling the figures' and 'lying about how the benefits system works'. 

Labour claims lifting the cap will pull 450,000 children out of poverty immediately.

In an article for the Guardian on Monday, Sir Keir hailed the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, which coincides with an increase in state pensions and the introduction of new workers' rights.

'The test of any government is not what it promises, but whose side it is on when it matters most, and it has rarely mattered more than it does today,' the PM wrote.

'The changes coming into effect on Monday mean greater security at work and stronger protections against rising costs.

'And the choices we have made since day one to stabilise the economy mean we are in a far better position to withstand shocks than we were before.

'The truth is simple: to make families better off, you need a serious, credible economic strategy – and the political will to use it to support those who need it most.

'That is what this Labour Government is delivering, and that is what sets us apart.'