People can’t believe this medieval rule that makes women prove they were raped is real policy. But it came into force today

As the Tory Government wield the axe on benefits, they are piling on the agony for women who conceive a child as the result of rape

EVERY time I explain the rape clause to people, there’s an audible gasp.

Yes, this Tory Government are actually writing down rules to make women who have conceived a third child as the result of rape to prove this, just so they can continue to receive child tax credits.

People can’t believe it’s a real policy that a government would deliberately create, but they did. And it came into force today.

The impact of the two-child policy for tax credits is disproportionate. Child Poverty Action Group and the Institute for Public Policy Research estimate it will push another 200,000 below the poverty line and working families with three children will lose £2780 per year.

Only 13 per cent of families in the UK have three or more children, but this is 52 per cent in orthodox Jewish families and 60 per cent in Muslim families. These will now find themselves without the tax credits which helped make up the difference between “just about managing” and poverty. I first spotted the rape clause buried in the Government’s Budget almost two years ago. This, along with the over-arching twochild restriction, will put families into poverty, put vulnerable women at risk and stigmatise mother and child.

I have been at pains to find ways of halting this vindictive policy, raising it in the Commons 25 times with both David Cameron and Theresa May, as well as a succession of ministers.

The UK Government were forced into doing a public consultation, which hardly received a ringing endorsement.

Shamefully, when the eyes of the world were on Donald Trump being inaugurated, they tried to sneak out the results of the consultation to kill any coverage on what they know fine well is an incredibly controversial policy.

Heartless Tory ministers have avoided debating the issue in the Commons, using obscure Parliamentary process to push it through without a vote or debate.

Time after time, I was promised by Government ministers that the policy would be carried out sensitively, that people wouldn’t have to deal directly with HMRC or DWP officials, and that a “third-party evidence” model would be used.

To date, and with the policy having come into force today, there is no evidence that the nurses, doctors and social workers who will carry out assessments have received any training on the policy or on sexual violence.

With the announcement that Glasgow Rape Crisis, Scottish Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland and Engender will refuse to implement the policy, the rape clause is all but impossible to enforce in Scotland.

If this doesn’t give the Government pause for thought, the situation in Northern Ireland should; making a claim under the rape clause will put women in danger.

Northern Ireland Women’s Aid point out that “if someone discloses rape and the perpetrator is identifiable ( for example if it is the husband or partner of the victim), organisations and support services are legally obligated to inform the police”. Shockingly, the UK Government are yet to acknowledge this flaw in their policy.

The Government struggle with the idea of rape in existing relationships, but this is the reality for many women. Most rapes still happen within marriage.

Tax credits will not be payable if the women is still living with her abusive partner, yet the most dangerous time for a woman is when she tries to leave.

The Lords have also reviewed the policy, finding that “a number of the answers ( from the DWP) cast doubt as to whether the system will be fully set up by April 6 when the legislation takes effect and on whether the exception relating to non-consensual conception can ever be made to work”.

I’m glad to see the House of Lords are asking such fundamental questions but the time for scrutiny ran out and chaos is being unleashed on vulnerable women today.

The two-child policy and rape clause are unworkable, cruel and stigmatising. And they highlight a fundamental difference between Scotland’s two governments. The Scottish Government are giving out baby boxes while the Tories are asking mothers to prove their baby was the result of rape.

If Theresa May’s warm words about being a feminist and standing up for the “just about managing” are to mean anything at all, she needs to scrap the pernicious twochild policy and medieval rape clause. Alison Thewliss is the SNP MP for Glasgow Central.

The Tories tried to sneak this out under cover of the Trump ceremonies