SNP calls Tory MSP ‘unfit’ for social security role after benefits remarks
The Scottish Conservatives’ social security spokeswoman is facing calls to resign after saying that people on benefits should not be able to have “as many children as they like”.
Michelle Ballantyne made the comments about the UK government’s two-child benefits cap during a debate on austerity at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday. Asked about the policy – which limits tax credits and Universal Credit to a family’s first two children – she said: “It is fair that people on benefit cannot have as many children as they like.”
It emerged yesterday that
the MSP has also questioned whether a limit should be placed on the number of children people on benefits should be allowed to have.
“That’s a debate we’re going to have to have in Scotland in terms of whether we feel there should be no restriction on the number of children you can have,” she told ITV in May.
The SNP said her comments proved she was “unfit” for the role of social security spokeswoman for the Tories, claiming her position was now “completely untenable”.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw, who is standing in for Ruth Davidson while she is on maternity leave, admitted the language used by Ms Ballantyne had been “clumsy” and insensitive.
He added: “I don’t think it represented Michelle’s broader view on what is a very serious subject.”