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Labour won't fight Tory plans to scrap child tax credits for more than two children, Harriet Harman has revealed.

The acting leader says her party must 'understand' the policy just days after she slammed George Osborne's welfare cuts for not standing up for workers.

Today Ms Harman said 'blanket opposition' would be the wrong approach after Labour suffered its worst election defeat in decades.

She added she'd seen mums angry they couldn't have bigger families while others were on benefits when she toured the country in her pink women's battle bus.

Labour will still fight plans to taper away all tax credits more quickly, leaving working families thousands of pounds worse off.

READ MORE: How will the Budget affect my tax credits? Everything you need to know about George Osborne's raid

(Image: BBC1)

And the party will oppose the abolition of child poverty targets by the Tories.

But Ms Harman indicated Labour won't oppose two of the most widely-publicised cuts to £12bn of benefits in Mr Osborne's budget.

Those are the lowering of the household benefits cap from £26,000 to £20,000 (£23,000 in London) and limiting tax credits to just the first two children.

She said outright that the first policy will be supported and repeated she'll be 'understanding' the two-child limit.

Worth up to £2,780 per child per year, child tax credit payments will be withdrawn from third, fourth, fifth and other children born after 6 April 2017.

They'll also be stripped from children whose parents apply for the first time after April 2017, or who take a break in claiming of more than 6 months.

READ MORE: Budget 2015 at a glance

Ms Harman told the BBC's Sunday Politics: "We won't oppose the Welfare Bill. We won't oppose the household benefit cap.

"For example what they've brought forward in relation to restricting benefits and tax credits for people with 3 or more children.

"What we've got to do is listen to what people round the country said to us and recognise that we didn't get elected again.

"This wasn't a blip, it was the second time we haven't got elected and actually what people don't want us to do is blanket opposition.

(Image: Getty)

"They want us to actually be specific about what we're going to be challenging and holding the government to account on.

"But more than that, they want us to listen to their concerns and we've got to recognise why it was that the Tories are in government and not us.

"Which is not because people love the Tories particularly but because they didn't trust us on the economy and on benefits.

"That's why as I say we're not going to be voting against the welfare bill, we're not going to be opposing the household benefit cap, we're going to be understanding the point about [three or more] children, that's what people said all around the country."

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