Ruth hides from rape clause shame
IF ANY proof were needed of the true face of the Tories, it came at Holyrood last Thursday.
After First Minister’s Questions, I was joined outside Parliament by other party leaders and a large throng of ordinary people. We were all there to voice our opposition to the UK Tory Government’s repugnant rape clause.
The clause is the result of the Tories’ imposition of a two-child limit on the claiming of tax credits. They have also stipulated that any woman wanting to claim for a third child conceived as a result of rape must prove it – through interviews and form-filling.
It is a grotesque policy which has no place in the 21st century, yet the Tories claim it involves a “sensitive” approach.
There was, of course, one party leader missing from the gathering outside Holyrood. Ruth Davidson was nowhere to be seen – and no wonder.
The Tory leader had just attempted a mealy-mouthed defence of the rape clause at Question Time. With the boldest of brass necks, she tried to turn the tables by suggesting the Scottish Government should do something about her own party’s mess.
It won’t wash – and the Tories shouldn’t be let off the hook.
In any case, the Scottish Government have no powers to repeal the two-child cap or the rape clause.
The Tories should simply do th e right thing and scrap it now.