26/04/2017

:00:31. > :00:43.I begin by moving the motion in my name. Last Thursday, together with

:00:44. > :00:47.many MSPs from across this chamber, I attended the demonstration which

:00:48. > :00:53.took place outside this building. At that demonstration, Sandy Brindley

:00:54. > :00:58.said the opposition to the right clause is not about party politics,

:00:59. > :01:03.it is about basic human rights, and I agree very much for that. Of

:01:04. > :01:10.course, the rape clause has come about because of the two child cap

:01:11. > :01:14.introduced by the UK Government. That cap means child tax credits and

:01:15. > :01:21.universal credit will only be paid the two children in each family. It

:01:22. > :01:26.is worth notice that the policy intention of these changes, not an

:01:27. > :01:32.inadvertent consequence, but the intention is to reduce the income of

:01:33. > :01:36.low-wage families with children. The Institute for Fiscal Studies have

:01:37. > :01:42.set up the stark reality of that. 600,000 households across the UK

:01:43. > :01:50.will be ?2500 a year worse off. 300,000 households, those with four

:01:51. > :01:54.more children, will be ?7,000 a year worse off. The Health Secretary

:01:55. > :01:58.received a letter from the DWP. It said the reform is to ensure the

:01:59. > :02:02.people on benefits has to make the same choices as those supporting

:02:03. > :02:08.themselves through work, but that misses the point that two thirds of

:02:09. > :02:12.these families affected by this policy are working households. They

:02:13. > :02:17.are people who are already participating in the labour market

:02:18. > :02:20.but on low incomes, and the UK Government therefore seems to be

:02:21. > :02:24.directly targeting people that it claims to want to help. It is also

:02:25. > :02:31.important to note these changes are part of a much bigger picture. In

:02:32. > :02:35.total, by 2022, approximately ?1 billion a year will have been cut

:02:36. > :02:38.from social security spending in Scotland. Only one fifth of that is

:02:39. > :02:44.the result of the changes that took effect this month. The past seven

:02:45. > :02:50.years, this government has systematically reduced vital Social

:02:51. > :02:54.Security safety nets by freezing the work allowance, cutting support for

:02:55. > :02:59.housing and cutting the income of people with disabilities. Let's

:03:00. > :03:02.reflect on some of the consequences of those decisions. Sick and

:03:03. > :03:08.disabled people have seen their incomes reduced by ?30 a week due to

:03:09. > :03:15.cuts in employment and support allowance. Every week right now,

:03:16. > :03:21.around 800 notability vehicles are being removed from disabled people

:03:22. > :03:27.across the UK as a result of changes to personal independence payments, a

:03:28. > :03:29.fact that makes Ruth Davidson's decision yesterday to pose for

:03:30. > :03:41.photographs sitting on a mobility scooter all the more insulting.

:03:42. > :03:44.Young people aged 18-21 have also had the financial help with housing

:03:45. > :03:51.costs removed and bereavement payments and wooded parents

:03:52. > :03:56.allowance had been cut, and 70,000 households in Scotland would of been

:03:57. > :04:00.hit by the bedroom tax. More than 80% of those households have more

:04:01. > :04:06.than once adult that is disabled. That is why the UN has described

:04:07. > :04:11.these cuts as discriminatory and the systematic violation of disabled

:04:12. > :04:16.people's writes. How shocking is that? The UN describing the attack

:04:17. > :04:21.on disabled people's benefits as a systematic violation of their

:04:22. > :04:25.rights. Inevitably, these cuts disproportionately affect families

:04:26. > :04:29.on low incomes, those who most need support and assistance, and there is

:04:30. > :04:35.overwhelming evidence that they also disproportionately affect women. The

:04:36. > :04:39.women's Budget group as noted by the sickness of these cuts the big

:04:40. > :04:45.government is making will come from women's incomes. It is worth

:04:46. > :04:49.repeating that. They have been born by women. No government surely, with

:04:50. > :04:55.a genuine concern for those who just about manage, and the women who so

:04:56. > :04:59.often have the responsibility of holding these households together,

:05:00. > :05:05.could ever have chosen to reduce the deficit in this way. So the two

:05:06. > :05:08.child cap on tax credits is in some senses unsurprising the deeply

:05:09. > :05:15.regrettable because it is the sort of policy that we have.

:05:16. > :05:20.is she surprised to learn that this is in fact the second time the

:05:21. > :05:22.Conservatives have sought to introduce this policy after they

:05:23. > :05:26.were successfully blocked from so doing in the last Parliament, and

:05:27. > :05:31.does she agree with me that this is further evidence that the

:05:32. > :05:36.Conservatives have gone too far? No, I'm not surprised to hear that. I

:05:37. > :05:41.opposed many of these benefit cuts, I think this one in particular and

:05:42. > :05:49.the rape clause cause, is definitely going to fire. -- to fire. It is the

:05:50. > :05:52.type of thing we've come to accept this government. The invitations of

:05:53. > :06:03.this policy, as the rape clause illustrates soap vividly, an truly

:06:04. > :06:10.abhorrent. The callousness of these cuts is is unbelievable. The rape

:06:11. > :06:14.clause is wrong in principle. The equality and human rights commission

:06:15. > :06:19.said, just at the end of last week that because of this policy, there

:06:20. > :06:26.is a clear risk of regional metallisation of rape survivors. --

:06:27. > :06:30.re-traumatised nation of rape survivors. No woman should have to

:06:31. > :06:35.go through that you get a tax credit for a child. I cannot believe that

:06:36. > :06:36.in 2017I'm having to stand up in the Scottish parliament and make that

:06:37. > :06:55.argument. But this policy isn't just a moral

:06:56. > :06:58.or very definitely is. This puts an unacceptable burden on health

:06:59. > :07:03.workers and rape crisis centres as well as an officials from the

:07:04. > :07:07.Department for Work and Pensions. Reyes cried to Scotland, Scottish

:07:08. > :07:13.Parliament women's aid have all refused to collude with this clause.

:07:14. > :07:18.Why it that has now passed into law, no one in the UK Government is able

:07:19. > :07:22.to explain how it will work in practice. So many basic questions

:07:23. > :07:27.are still completely and entered. What burden of proof is required?

:07:28. > :07:31.How will be claim be verified and recorded? And how can this process

:07:32. > :07:36.possibly take place without the women fearing that it will be hugely

:07:37. > :07:42.stigmatising Faour her and her child? I would ask Ruth Davidson to

:07:43. > :07:51.do would no one has done anti-cancer these questions -- to enter these

:07:52. > :07:55.questions. Why shouldn't the victim of rape have to go through such

:07:56. > :08:01.white should a victim of rape have to go through such a process. Having

:08:02. > :08:06.to go to a process of verification and having that verification

:08:07. > :08:10.recorded four years as one of your financial lifeline? The moment

:08:11. > :08:14.anyone considers all of that, must surely be the moment that the sheer

:08:15. > :08:24.Renee manatee of this policy becomes clear. -- the sheer inhumanity of

:08:25. > :08:27.this policy becomes clear. We should just put up with only any callous

:08:28. > :08:32.cuts the UK Government wants to introduce. According to the Tories,

:08:33. > :08:37.instead of arguing for the repeal of such policies, discover Scottish

:08:38. > :08:42.Government should just apply some sticking plaster. I want to address

:08:43. > :08:50.that ridiculous lodgement head-on today. Firstly, let us be clear. The

:08:51. > :08:53.Scottish Government cannot abolish the two child clap or the rape

:08:54. > :09:00.clause. We do not have the legal power to do so. Trying to mitigate

:09:01. > :09:05.the impact of these cuts would be significantly more complex than

:09:06. > :09:10.simply compensating people for the bedroom tax. But that is not the

:09:11. > :09:15.only issue. The real issue here is the financial impact of mitigation

:09:16. > :09:22.on other services. This is a key point, when the UK Government makes

:09:23. > :09:27.these cut they don't pass Scotland's share of the savings on to the

:09:28. > :09:30.government. If they did we could make our choices whether to reverse

:09:31. > :09:35.the cut or spend the money elsewhere. But the UK Government

:09:36. > :09:40.keeps the money from those savings. So, any decision by this government

:09:41. > :09:43.to mitigate one of these cuts involve taking money that is

:09:44. > :09:48.allocated to schools, hospitals and other services. And notwithstanding

:09:49. > :09:56.that, we have mitigated where we can. We should not have too, but we

:09:57. > :10:01.have. In 20 -- in since 2013 this government has spent millions of

:10:02. > :10:09.pounds mitigating the web syntax. -- the bedroom tax. So, we went apply

:10:10. > :10:14.the two child cap on our council tax reduction scheme. But we cannot

:10:15. > :10:19.accept the Tories in permitting any cut they want to and the army ants

:10:20. > :10:24.are being Scotland having to take money from elsewhere to plug the

:10:25. > :10:32.gap. -- the only answer being Scotland having to take money from

:10:33. > :10:40.elsewhere to plug the gap. It is a ridiculous and unsustainable

:10:41. > :10:45.argument. So, let me say this to the Tories today. If you think that the

:10:46. > :10:48.Scottish Parliament is better placed to take these decisions, and I

:10:49. > :10:53.certainly be rid that, then let us forget the sticking plaster

:10:54. > :10:58.approach. Let's devolve control of tax credits and universal credit and

:10:59. > :11:04.the budgets to go with them and then let us make our own decisions. In

:11:05. > :11:09.this Parliament. The fact of the matter is, the only appropriate

:11:10. > :11:12.mitigation here is for the UK Government to abandon the two child

:11:13. > :11:17.cap which then renders the rape clause unnecessary. Just as it

:11:18. > :11:24.reversed cuts to tax credits in the face of mounting credit -- protest

:11:25. > :11:30.two years ago. These are unworkable and unacceptable. The unworkable

:11:31. > :11:39.unworkable not just in Scotland and across the UK. Now, the Tories here

:11:40. > :11:45.had a choice on this issue. A choice of standing up for what is right or

:11:46. > :11:47.simply being a mouthpiece for the UK Government in defending the

:11:48. > :11:51.indefensible. The fact that they have chosen the latter I think it to

:11:52. > :11:55.their shame. It does prove that if Scotland is looking for a strong

:11:56. > :11:58.voices to protect all that we hold dear, then the last place a they

:11:59. > :12:03.should ever look is to the Scottish Conservative Party. I said at the

:12:04. > :12:09.start of the speech that this is not fundamentally an issue of party

:12:10. > :12:11.politics. It is an issue of human rights and morality. The

:12:12. > :12:16.overwhelming consensus in this chamber demonstrates that fact.

:12:17. > :12:22.Today's road gives all of us a fact to reaffirm that. To reaffirm that

:12:23. > :12:26.despite the fact that the differences we have, we all share a

:12:27. > :12:30.belief in social justice and the all recognise the importance of humanity

:12:31. > :12:38.comity dignity and equality in our social security system. An outcry

:12:39. > :12:43.against the two child policy and the rape clause and I hope will grow

:12:44. > :12:47.right across the UK. We can take a clear stand against a policy which I

:12:48. > :12:52.would argue has no place in any civilised society and we can

:12:53. > :12:56.reaffirm this chamber's commitment to progressive values. For all of

:12:57. > :12:58.these reasons I urge everyone across this chamber to support today's

:12:59. > :13:17.chain motion. First let me say that I welcome this

:13:18. > :13:21.debate today, not just because it is an issue which is easy to just

:13:22. > :13:25.discuss in public. Something to the polling never is, and it only right

:13:26. > :13:31.that issues of difficulty and passion like this are depleted in

:13:32. > :13:36.our parliament here in Edinburgh. -- debated in our Parliament here in

:13:37. > :13:40.end. As politicians I suspect we all know survivors of rape. I know that

:13:41. > :13:45.there are even amongst us here, people who have been subject to

:13:46. > :13:51.sexual violence. They find even the word difficult to articulate. In the

:13:52. > :13:55.last two weeks as it has emerged into the public domain, I know that

:13:56. > :13:58.many of us, me included, have spoken to women who are recovering from

:13:59. > :14:03.their ordeal. We know the awful circumstances that they face, not

:14:04. > :14:08.just the terror of the attack or attacks, themselves but also the

:14:09. > :14:17.indignity of the criminal justice system that names and faces them as

:14:18. > :14:21.the if they report the crime. The criminal injuries compensation

:14:22. > :14:28.process, the court process and then the lengthy spell afterwards for the

:14:29. > :14:31.women and men who have to pick up their lives and confront the world

:14:32. > :14:36.anew. In the last few weeks, when they've talked about helping women

:14:37. > :14:40.in such a consensus we have used words like sensitive and

:14:41. > :14:43.compassionate and I agreed that these words don't even begin to cut

:14:44. > :14:46.it. They shrivel next to the enormity of the violation that they

:14:47. > :14:51.have suffered. And it is even more so when faced with women whose rate

:14:52. > :14:58.has resulted in the birth of a child. Presiding officer I would

:14:59. > :15:02.like to use my speech here to try and places issue in context. The

:15:03. > :15:07.issue of the so-called rape clause as a result of the welfare Bill

:15:08. > :15:11.passed in the House of Commons in 2015. These changes to welfare

:15:12. > :15:15.spending were introduced in the wake of the 2015 general election when my

:15:16. > :15:19.party set out in its manifesto a clear plan to try and put the UK's

:15:20. > :15:23.public finances back on solid ground. We all know that the UK

:15:24. > :15:29.continues to spend more than it can afford, last year borrowing to the

:15:30. > :15:33.tune of ?69 billion. In order to restore public finances we must

:15:34. > :15:36.eliminate that deficit and eliminate the debt mountain that the country

:15:37. > :15:39.has allowed to build up over a period of years. Otherwise, future

:15:40. > :15:44.generations will have to pay our debts. I'm sorry I have a lot to get

:15:45. > :15:49.through and I will not be taking any interventions. I also do not think

:15:50. > :15:53.this issue should be subject to the knock-about that we see and hear

:15:54. > :15:57.daily. This of course is a political judgment that any government has to

:15:58. > :16:00.take. Labour and the SNP would not seek to compel the growth in

:16:01. > :16:04.spending as we would and that is their right. But it is our judgment

:16:05. > :16:10.that we need to reduce its job -- does the opposite to show that the

:16:11. > :16:15.UK can build an economy which can continue to sustain product

:16:16. > :16:19.services. This inevitably means examining many budgets and the

:16:20. > :16:25.welfare budget is included in that. It has meant, for example, removing

:16:26. > :16:28.child benefit from higher earners. The issue we're debating today

:16:29. > :16:33.revolves around for the decision taken by the UK Government to limit

:16:34. > :16:37.tax credits to the first two children. Now, it is worth stressing

:16:38. > :16:39.that this will not apply to existing claimants. In other words comment of

:16:40. > :16:45.three or more children currently claim tax credits will still

:16:46. > :16:52.continue to do so. I accept that many years here, this change is far

:16:53. > :16:58.from welcome let's say that these are difficult judgment calls. When

:16:59. > :17:01.in 2015 the government proposed the scouts I spoke out against them. I

:17:02. > :17:06.did not think that the Minister had got the balance right and those

:17:07. > :17:11.measures which were scrapped. The two tax limit was not something that

:17:12. > :17:16.macro to cap limit was not something I spoke out against. Harriet Carmine

:17:17. > :17:24.also made it clear that she felt it was something that should be

:17:25. > :17:33.considered. -- Harriet Harman. We are... I agreed with her then and I

:17:34. > :17:36.still do. A one parent family with two children in which the parent

:17:37. > :17:45.work 16 hours a week at minimum wage can claim benefits... I cite these

:17:46. > :17:49.figures only to give context to the numbers at the First Minister gave.

:17:50. > :17:55.This package of reforms was voted through the House of Commons and I

:17:56. > :18:00.noted that many Labour MPs abstained at stage two. It was then entering

:18:01. > :18:04.the consultation phase, prior to implement agent that the question of

:18:05. > :18:08.exception was raged that matter raised an agreed. For children who

:18:09. > :18:13.are adopted, and Freddie were cases when a dearth of a third or a

:18:14. > :18:18.subsequent child is a consequence of rape, the UK Government agrees that

:18:19. > :18:22.the two child restriction could not apply. I cannot imagine that there

:18:23. > :18:31.is a single member of this chamber who does not support this attention

:18:32. > :18:36.as I do. So the question then comes to implantation. I'm sorry to say

:18:37. > :18:39.that on this issue to many people have simply not been clear of the

:18:40. > :18:47.fact. I have heard members of this chamber say on television that women

:18:48. > :18:50.must compete on a page form -- complete an eight page form to

:18:51. > :18:56.receive an exemption. This is simply not correct. May I quote the

:18:57. > :19:00.Department for Work and Pensions consultation report on this matter,

:19:01. > :19:03.published in January, it says neither DWP nor HMRC staff will

:19:04. > :19:16.question the claimant about the incident other then asking... A

:19:17. > :19:24.point of order... A point of order Mr Finlay. I was under the

:19:25. > :19:28.impression this was debating chamber. Isn't it appalling that we

:19:29. > :19:38.have the Leader of the Opposition and willing to take any intervention

:19:39. > :19:51.over this most hilarious proposal. -- blueness proposal. -- terrible

:19:52. > :19:55.proposal. There is absolutely no requirement to either report rape is

:19:56. > :20:01.a crime, to provide proof of rape were proof of conviction. A woman

:20:02. > :20:05.like to name and a third-party professional who is helping the

:20:06. > :20:09.mother is asked to set out the rest. This third-party model already

:20:10. > :20:11.exists in the benefit system super -- to support victims of domestic

:20:12. > :20:32.violence. The third-party It is important that we are not

:20:33. > :20:38.wilfully misrepresenting the process here, so let me outline this again

:20:39. > :20:42.to the Chamber. The woman writes her name and a third-party professional

:20:43. > :20:47.helping the mother is asked to set up the rest, and this third-party

:20:48. > :20:53.model already exists in the benefit system to support victims of

:20:54. > :20:59.domestic violence. The third-party professional is also able to provide

:21:00. > :21:05.or signpost claimants to additional support. The First Minister talks of

:21:06. > :21:08.work ability. Citizens advice Scotland, who have been very

:21:09. > :21:16.critical of the third child restriction, said the following...

:21:17. > :21:21.Is it not the case in this debate that the fact should be clearly

:21:22. > :21:27.represented? Ms Davidson said the applicant only had to fill out the

:21:28. > :21:31.name and sign the form. I am reading from her form page, where the

:21:32. > :21:37.applicant is required to put their name, national Insurance number,

:21:38. > :21:41.address, declared that I believe the non-conceptual conception applies to

:21:42. > :21:45.my child, give the child's name, sign that and confirm I am not

:21:46. > :21:53.living with the other parent of this child, even if that other parent was

:21:54. > :21:57.a person raped the applicant. So accuracy in this debate surely is

:21:58. > :22:14.important! APPLAUSE. I understand emotions were running

:22:15. > :22:20.high, that was an intervention, not the point of order. I refer to the

:22:21. > :22:24.third-party model and showed that are already exists relating to

:22:25. > :22:28.domestic violence and it is the model used to fill out the pages of

:22:29. > :22:33.this form. Let me come back to that point the First Minister raised

:22:34. > :22:37.about work ability. Citizens advice Scotland, who I accept to be

:22:38. > :22:41.critical of the two child restriction, has said this about

:22:42. > :22:44.work ability, citizens advice Scotland is content with a

:22:45. > :22:48.third-party model sufficient to enable the exemption of the two

:22:49. > :22:55.child restriction where it is likely that a child has been conceived as a

:22:56. > :22:58.result of rape. I hear concerns raised by other charities in this

:22:59. > :23:02.sector who do not agree with this policy, and I take them seriously,

:23:03. > :23:08.which is why I say the implementation of these exemptions

:23:09. > :23:11.must be closely monitored. I would like to conclude with two points,

:23:12. > :23:16.firstly in relation to the First Minister's motion, I do not dispute

:23:17. > :23:20.the sources she's quitting, but I asked the Chamber to examine the

:23:21. > :23:25.issue of welfare reform. At the moment, the UK employment rate is

:23:26. > :23:30.the highest on record. In the last year, the number of disabled people

:23:31. > :23:34.at work has increased by nearly 300,000. There are nearly 1.3

:23:35. > :23:39.million women are more employed since 2010 was dog also since that

:23:40. > :23:44.time, there are 828 fewer workless households. Income inequality in

:23:45. > :23:49.this country has fallen because the incomes of the lowest paid are

:23:50. > :23:55.rising. Latest ONS data showed lowest paid workers are seen their

:23:56. > :24:00.pay go up the most. Median household disposable income for the poorest

:24:01. > :24:06.fifth rose by ?700 last year compared to the richest fifth, whose

:24:07. > :24:10.incomes fell by ?1000. And we're helping people keep more of what

:24:11. > :24:14.they earn. And because of this, the proportion of people living in

:24:15. > :24:20.relative poverty in this country is near its lowest levels since the

:24:21. > :24:26.1980s. Since 2010, there are 300,000 fewer people across the UK in

:24:27. > :24:31.poverty and 100,000 fewer children. Across the UK, we continue to spend

:24:32. > :24:35.?90 billion a year on supporting families, people on low incomes and

:24:36. > :24:41.job-seekers. This is the record of the UK Government on welfare. Our

:24:42. > :24:44.system means that people do not support that, they have the

:24:45. > :24:48.opportunity to ask someone else to do it on the 8th of June, but that

:24:49. > :24:53.this Parliament, the question is deeper and the question facing us

:24:54. > :24:58.is, what is this Parliament for? Is it to be a soapbox, the sound off

:24:59. > :25:04.about the policies in London the MSPs do not like? All, given the

:25:05. > :25:10.enormous powers Parliament now has, is it the act? And if there is

:25:11. > :25:17.something that some in this chamber feel is abhorrent or repellent, then

:25:18. > :25:24.surely those words lose all meaning there something behind it. The

:25:25. > :25:27.taxation to pay for decisions were demanded and transferred precisely

:25:28. > :25:34.so that devolved Scottish governments could make different

:25:35. > :25:40.choices. I do not believe that any member of this chamber disagrees

:25:41. > :25:44.that women who have children in the worst of circumstances should be

:25:45. > :25:48.exempted from restrictions on tax credit. I do not want to believe

:25:49. > :25:54.that any member would wilfully misrepresent the process, causing

:25:55. > :25:58.fear and alarm. However, I do believe that there are many members

:25:59. > :26:02.of other parties who would wish away tax credits restricted to the first

:26:03. > :26:06.two children and would point them to the legislative powers of this

:26:07. > :26:12.Parliament. For my part, I will continue to monitor the way this

:26:13. > :26:17.works on the ground. And the First Minister and her ministers use

:26:18. > :26:22.strong words like shameful, and she has the power to act. If she chooses

:26:23. > :26:26.not to act, that would indeed be shameful. So we will continue to

:26:27. > :26:37.monitor this and I will with the amendment that is in my name.

:26:38. > :26:41.APPLAUSE. I begin by moving the amendment in my name. Politics is

:26:42. > :26:45.likely choose because we think we can do some good. More than that, it

:26:46. > :26:51.is because we think it is our opinions, it views on life, which

:26:52. > :26:54.shaped the world we it helped those feel left behind, forgotten or are

:26:55. > :27:01.struggling and give them a voice and a belief they are counted. We are

:27:02. > :27:06.all here because we are in the business of doing good. What an

:27:07. > :27:13.ideal, what an absolute joke in the eyes of the Scottish Conservative

:27:14. > :27:15.Party! For ten years, the Tory government at Westminster has

:27:16. > :27:19.slashed our social security system in a deliberate act of sabotage and

:27:20. > :27:25.the question I would put over it Davidson, if she had bothered to

:27:26. > :27:29.take any interventions, is question of judgment. Why do rape victims

:27:30. > :27:37.have to pay the price of the deficit while you give tax cuts to the

:27:38. > :27:41.richest analysis IT? The disabled, poor, ill, carers of our society

:27:42. > :27:48.have all been victims of Tory austerity and not content with that,

:27:49. > :27:52.the Tories have turned the attention to the tax credit system, one of

:27:53. > :27:58.Labour's finest achievements. Is there no end to the Tories' desire

:27:59. > :28:04.that those with the least have even less? As the casual victims of this

:28:05. > :28:08.meanness, women who have two children, who have had a third as a

:28:09. > :28:13.result of a rape, are now at the mercy of a harsh dig tacked

:28:14. > :28:19.government intent on dismantling the safety net benefits. I do admit to

:28:20. > :28:23.being raped and have a child born of this, physically, mentally,

:28:24. > :28:28.emotionally scarred, and get the financial help you need, or go

:28:29. > :28:34.without! Without doubt, the Tories' cap is arbitrary and unfair and the

:28:35. > :28:42.rape clause is utterly horrific and abhorrent! APPLAUSE. I look across

:28:43. > :28:45.this chamber at Ruth Davidson and others and I know that many of them

:28:46. > :28:49.have not always agreed with decisions that everybody has taken

:28:50. > :28:54.in Westminster in the past yet amongst the so-called detoxified

:28:55. > :28:59.Tories, not one of them will speak out against this later abomination,

:29:00. > :29:04.not one will stand up and say the asking rape victims to declare on a

:29:05. > :29:09.form that the child was a result of an appalling crime is just wrong.

:29:10. > :29:15.What is worse is that they even try and defend it! There is nothing

:29:16. > :29:19.floppy about David Mandel, a man who cannot answer when asked on radio is

:29:20. > :29:23.because comfortable asking rape victims to fill in such a form, a

:29:24. > :29:34.man who then has the brass neck to accuse those of us who... There is

:29:35. > :29:38.nothing brave about Ruth Davidson when she fails to tackle her own

:29:39. > :29:48.government on this appalling issue and hide behind a spokesperson for

:29:49. > :29:53.days! APPLAUSE. But here is someone who is brave. I have a letter from a

:29:54. > :29:57.woman who wrote to me to tell her story about a rape and how this

:29:58. > :30:02.barbaric policy would have affected her. I have her permission to read

:30:03. > :30:07.in full and I have only removed references to the child's gender and

:30:08. > :30:11.its age. The Tories may not want to listen to me, but they surely cannot

:30:12. > :30:17.ignore her. This is what she had to say. Four years ago, one of my

:30:18. > :30:23.closest friends, someone I trusted, raped me. It happened once. I used

:30:24. > :30:27.emergency contraception but still fell pregnant. Lots of reasons, I

:30:28. > :30:31.decided I could not terminate the pregnancy and went on to the baby.

:30:32. > :30:35.The speculation about the father was awful. I accepted I would be

:30:36. > :30:41.labelled promiscuous as a result. I was prepared for that. I expected

:30:42. > :30:45.and received horrendous treatment from my husband's family. I was

:30:46. > :30:48.prepared for that. I was prepared for the financial hardship, having

:30:49. > :30:52.just been made redundant. I was as prepared as I could be for life as a

:30:53. > :30:58.single parent. What I was not prepared for was the impact the

:30:59. > :31:01.labelling would have on my three existing children, born into wedlock

:31:02. > :31:05.and brought up in the stable family home. I was not prepared for the

:31:06. > :31:09.shame I would feel. I was not prepared for the fear if anyone

:31:10. > :31:13.finding out and refusing to believe me. I was not prepared for the

:31:14. > :31:19.feeling that suicide was the only way out. I certainly was not

:31:20. > :31:24.prepared for the amount of hatred and resentment that I would feel for

:31:25. > :31:29.my own child. Years on, I have a happy, healthy child. They are

:31:30. > :31:33.worshipped, not just by me but by my extended family and husband, a brave

:31:34. > :31:40.and loving man. My child does not know where they came from and if I

:31:41. > :31:47.have anything to do with it, they won't. Though far from perfect, with

:31:48. > :31:51.challenges of its own, I hope the secrecy will give them the chance to

:31:52. > :31:55.live as close to normal life as possible. There have been so many

:31:56. > :31:58.pleas to take legal action or why the circle of trust to allow those

:31:59. > :32:03.who love me to provide support during the difficult times but this

:32:04. > :32:07.is a risk I could never take. I need to protect my children from the

:32:08. > :32:11.truth came above all other considerations. The wider the circle

:32:12. > :32:16.of midwives, consultants, family, the less chance I had protecting

:32:17. > :32:20.myself, my children from the permanent and damaging stigma

:32:21. > :32:26.attached to rape. I claimed tax credits from birth to 11 months old.

:32:27. > :32:32.I needed it at my most honourable to allow me to re-stabilise my family.

:32:33. > :32:36.Tax credits kept our heads above water, a buffer between us and the

:32:37. > :32:42.food bank. For that, I am eternally grateful. There is no way I could

:32:43. > :32:46.complete that awful form of shame, no matter what the consequences.

:32:47. > :32:50.Looking back, that really could've been the thing that tipped me over

:32:51. > :32:56.the edge. The difference between surviving to tell the tale or not.

:32:57. > :33:04.That is the reality of the Tory rape clause, the awful shame form. That

:33:05. > :33:09.is what Tories want to put on victims of rape because it does not

:33:10. > :33:12.want to pay for more than two children in a poor family. It is an

:33:13. > :33:16.absolutely sickening state of affairs but it is not the author of

:33:17. > :33:21.that letter or any other rape victim who should feel shame, it is those

:33:22. > :33:34.on the Tory benches here and in Westminster who refuse to have...

:33:35. > :33:38.APPLAUSE. I urge every single Tory MSP to stop and think about the

:33:39. > :33:39.ordeal you are asking women to go through, oppose this clause and

:33:40. > :33:59.finally do some good! APPLAUSE. I am grateful that Parliament

:34:00. > :34:02.debates child tax credit cuts this afternoon though dismayed that such

:34:03. > :34:07.a debate is necessary in such a law has been made by the UK Parliament

:34:08. > :34:14.through conservative boats and backing. The welfare reform and work

:34:15. > :34:21.act which limits entitlement to a maximum of two children under six of

:34:22. > :34:24.this month is the latest in an onslaught of UK legislation which is

:34:25. > :34:31.negatively impacted women and children. Ruth Davidson in a

:34:32. > :34:37.desperate defence of the indispensable, indefensible asks

:34:38. > :34:43.that we look at welfare reform, of the ?26 billion of cuts that will

:34:44. > :34:47.have been implemented between 2010 and 2020, 80 6% will have been taken

:34:48. > :34:51.from women's incomes. That is the context in which we debate this

:34:52. > :34:59.today, and we were some way away from gender equality before severe

:35:00. > :35:01.austerity was inflicted upon us. In the analysis, the resolution

:35:02. > :35:05.foundation concluded that the poorest third of households will be

:35:06. > :35:10.worse off from tax and benefit changes starting from the 6th of

:35:11. > :35:14.April, despite a ?1 billion giveaway. Back giveaway from the

:35:15. > :35:20.public purse seems the better of households receive 80% of the tax

:35:21. > :35:23.cut windfall in the poorest third shouldering two thirds, 67% of

:35:24. > :35:31.benefit losses. The overall package of reforms adds up to a significant

:35:32. > :35:36.transfer from low and middle-income households the richer ones.

:35:37. > :35:41.the Ben Toolis Charles tax credits to kill children is effectively a

:35:42. > :35:53.two child vamp that matter. There is no evidence that the

:35:54. > :35:58.measures will incentivise families to only have two children if they

:35:59. > :36:05.cannot afford to have more. -- can afford to have more. This policy

:36:06. > :36:12.takes no issue that family members become unwell that family situations

:36:13. > :36:17.change. The fact is that the child tax credit limit along with the

:36:18. > :36:20.overall cap on welfare benefits, fundamentally distorts our means

:36:21. > :36:24.tested Social Security system. A system based on assessing people's

:36:25. > :36:31.needs and their ability to meet them. What this tax credit limit

:36:32. > :36:34.means is that an family will be assessed and even when it's

:36:35. > :36:38.concluded that that family requires additional support, that support

:36:39. > :36:43.will be withheld. The Commissioner is right when he says that when it

:36:44. > :36:48.comes to the new benefit cuts, for the UK Government some children

:36:49. > :36:54.matter more than others. It's no surprise that he has raised concern

:36:55. > :36:57.for the rights of children with the UN committee committee on the rights

:36:58. > :37:04.of the child. Just because Westminster has legislated these

:37:05. > :37:09.needs will not be disappeared. Include weather is a multiple birth

:37:10. > :37:17.any cases of adoption. Let's look at the close we have a dusting most

:37:18. > :37:23.detail. -- discussed in most detail. Now known as per the rape clause,

:37:24. > :37:28.but surely as you get to the stage where you asking women that the

:37:29. > :37:34.child they are claiming under half of is a result of rape, a single

:37:35. > :37:37.brutal attack perhaps or perhaps doing it ongoing abusive coercive

:37:38. > :37:41.relationship, surely you would come to the conclusion that the

:37:42. > :37:47.invocations of your legislation on the impact that macro impact on the

:37:48. > :37:54.well-being and the permissive children are completely unexpected

:37:55. > :37:56.will -- annex unacceptable. It will be personally difficult than

:37:57. > :38:04.traumatic for many women to complete this form and it will be practically

:38:05. > :38:08.difficult, if not impossible, as Scottish women's aid and rape crisis

:38:09. > :38:12.Scotland wholeheartedly opposed the limit and the exception and cannot

:38:13. > :38:16.and will not collude by acting as third party reporters for the DWP.

:38:17. > :38:22.The Royal College of Nursing tells us that they were not approached by

:38:23. > :38:28.the DWP over this and they do not believe it is appropriate for a

:38:29. > :38:34.midwife to minors to arbitrate whether a child has been conceived

:38:35. > :38:44.by rape. The gym and visit the claimant is not living with the

:38:45. > :38:47.perpetrator, -- the argument... They will have the same pressing

:38:48. > :38:50.financial lead to support a third or more child but not the means to

:38:51. > :39:01.recoup that meet the requirement of this app warrant clause. -- app

:39:02. > :39:07.warrant clause. -- abominable close. I am wholly supportive of women to

:39:08. > :39:11.support these incidents, but we now why many women are reluctant to take

:39:12. > :39:15.this step. There is so much work yet to be done on this front. Yet we

:39:16. > :39:25.expect women to fill in detail forms for the DWP. In everything -- in

:39:26. > :39:31.their briefing Scottish women's rape crisis says we have no doubt that

:39:32. > :39:38.this will import -- cause harm to these victims. Removing this control

:39:39. > :39:43.risks re-traumatised and women. The equality and human rights commission

:39:44. > :39:46.has written to the DWP explaining their concerns regarding the cap and

:39:47. > :39:50.the operation of this exemption. With regard to the cap they point

:39:51. > :39:55.out that children have a right to adequate living standards and that

:39:56. > :39:59.these are international rights, owed by the state to the children

:40:00. > :40:04.themselves. These rights are not dependent on the choices when the

:40:05. > :40:09.circumstances of their parents. The commission rightly criticised the

:40:10. > :40:15.DWP for their lack of a properly -- detailed impact assessment. The cuts

:40:16. > :40:24.affecting women in children is a scandal and it has to stop. The

:40:25. > :40:28.Scottish Government has the powers to take action to mitigate. To make

:40:29. > :40:31.something bad less severe, as the dictionary would have it. And of

:40:32. > :40:36.course the Scottish Government must and will look at ways to ensure

:40:37. > :40:40.support for those affected is available. But I campaign for a

:40:41. > :40:45.Scottish parliament. I joined Scotland forward before I joined the

:40:46. > :40:49.Scottish Green Party. Ruth Davidson asks what a Scottish parliament is

:40:50. > :40:56.for. It's not just simply to mitigate the policies of the

:40:57. > :41:00.Conservatives at Westminster. My vision of devolution is proactive,

:41:01. > :41:05.where politicians in Scotland work together pretty good people in

:41:06. > :41:08.Scotland. Ruth Davidson, Adam Tomkins and others appear to have no

:41:09. > :41:12.vision of what this parliament can be about. I support the Labour

:41:13. > :41:23.amendment and I'm moving amendment in my name. Thank you we now move to

:41:24. > :41:30.the open part of the debate. I call Christina McKelvie. Thank you very

:41:31. > :41:34.much presiding officer, I'm profoundly sad to say that these tax

:41:35. > :41:40.credit cuts are the hearts and cruel nature of this Tory government. --

:41:41. > :41:44.harsh and cruel nature of this Tory government. It always seems to find

:41:45. > :41:50.a new low to stoop to when it comes to attacking the dignity and the

:41:51. > :41:54.living conditions of the vulnerable. This is nothing less than malevolent

:41:55. > :41:59.social engineering. In December 14, Iain Duncan Smith suggested that

:42:00. > :42:06.imposing the cap would help behavioural change, and that of the

:42:07. > :42:08.Coit, think about those words, help -- think about those words help

:42:09. > :42:16.behavioural change. The suggestion is that poor people should the

:42:17. > :42:20.impudence or moral right to breed. He is rich, a member of the Tory

:42:21. > :42:25.elite, so he is never likely to call on the welfare state that he is so

:42:26. > :42:30.much against. It deliberately planted a seed in people's minds

:42:31. > :42:34.that the parents on lower incomes are being responsible. We might be

:42:35. > :42:39.shocked by this, but we should not be surprised. It is, after all, the

:42:40. > :42:43.latest twist of the knife from a Tory government that already thinks

:42:44. > :42:47.it's OK to tell you where to live. How many bedrooms you can have.

:42:48. > :42:53.Whether you get support for your disability. If you can independent

:42:54. > :42:57.bat maintain your independence through your disability cap, what

:42:58. > :43:01.and how often you eat. Whether you're under 25 and you actually get

:43:02. > :43:07.housing support to maintain a roof over your head. And now, how dare if

:43:08. > :43:13.you dare to extend your family? The worst kind of social engineering.

:43:14. > :43:20.Beyond reactionary, beyond an fair, frankly, presiding officer beyond

:43:21. > :43:26.belief. It's perhaps the most disgusting thing we're thinking the

:43:27. > :43:33.Tories yet, the so-called rape clause. The one exemption to the

:43:34. > :43:36.three strikes and you're out tax policy this is nothing less in a

:43:37. > :43:43.barbaric attack on women. They have already suffered from having a child

:43:44. > :43:51.as a result of non-conceptual is sex. -- nonconsensual sex. This Tory

:43:52. > :44:02.government has ignored her calls for a sense and even comparison to

:44:03. > :44:06.prevail. There are very own Jackson Carlo has described the policy is

:44:07. > :44:13.awkward. Oak Ridge who? Free Tory party having to slip this through --

:44:14. > :44:18.awkward for who? Throw Ruth Davidson and your other colleagues now trying

:44:19. > :44:23.to perform excruciating contortions to sidestep responsibility for this

:44:24. > :44:33.barbarism? Could I say to them, let their members say volley here hear

:44:34. > :44:38.this. Let those trapped by this vicious and impunity piece of --

:44:39. > :44:46.punitive piece of sophistry, it is more than awkward. Imagine you are

:44:47. > :44:51.your family -- member of your family having suffered domestic violence

:44:52. > :44:56.having to deal with this. To allow the page to using a page form to

:44:57. > :45:01.snoop into the deepest recesses of your heart and your trauma. Imagine

:45:02. > :45:09.if you didn't report that way because you just want to bury that

:45:10. > :45:16.awful memory? Much like Kezia Dugdale love's example. Imagine if

:45:17. > :45:19.you're in Northern Ireland and your application result in a report to

:45:20. > :45:27.the police. Imagine if you're that child, named on that form. Well, we

:45:28. > :45:30.don't have to imagine it do we? This is not some dystopian story, this is

:45:31. > :45:36.actual government policy, right here, right now in this so-called

:45:37. > :45:43.civilised United Kingdom. This is deeper than disgusting. It is

:45:44. > :45:48.deliberate, calculated attack not just on women, who so often bear the

:45:49. > :45:55.brunt of Tory cuts. If Scottish Tories here on this Parliament here

:45:56. > :46:00.in this Parliament squat down and hope the firestorm passes. Ruth

:46:01. > :46:04.Davidson went even apologise. She went even explained. She even has

:46:05. > :46:11.the audacity to suggest that Parliament mitigate the damage had

:46:12. > :46:18.by protecting the people from the mean minded policies of her party.

:46:19. > :46:27.Where there's muck, there's always a brass neck, and there's plenty in

:46:28. > :46:32.you today. -- in your today. Politicians,... The trade unions and

:46:33. > :46:38.child poverty campaigners and even the House of Lords. If Ruth Davidson

:46:39. > :46:46.entered colleagues want us to believe they're capable of even at

:46:47. > :46:52.of compassion they must resist this devoted of -- divisive demeaning

:46:53. > :47:00.corrosive legislation. I want to live in a civilisation that treats

:47:01. > :47:04.its people of compassion and care and not heartlessness and contempt.

:47:05. > :47:07.I say it loud and clear today to the Tories, we don't want your tax

:47:08. > :47:14.credit cuts, we don't want your rate close here have -- rape clause. We

:47:15. > :47:27.don't want it anywhere in the Niger Kingdom. Scrap it now. Survivors of

:47:28. > :47:33.rape have been to hell and back. They're very being has been. Women

:47:34. > :47:37.have reported being raped will have been subjected to the indignities of

:47:38. > :47:40.the criminal justice system and may face the daunting prospect of a

:47:41. > :47:47.protracted killer case. They will experience shame and isolation that

:47:48. > :47:51.most of us cannot imagine. And these emotions will never dissipate in a

:47:52. > :47:55.lifetime. To say this is a sensitive subject that must be treated

:47:56. > :48:00.carefully may be true, but it does not even begin to cut it. In the

:48:01. > :48:07.rare cases when the rate result in a conception and birth of a child, the

:48:08. > :48:15.situation is even more fraught this is the context in which I want to

:48:16. > :48:17.post my comment. When the duties of government is the responsible

:48:18. > :48:20.stewardship of the government resources. But when the

:48:21. > :48:26.Conservatives return to government he doesn't intend Gordon Brown's

:48:27. > :48:31.outgoing legislation had failed in this respect. Sorry, but there is no

:48:32. > :48:38.money left... That is what we were told. I'm not giving away at the

:48:39. > :48:40.moment... Sorry, but there is an money left, that's what we patrolled

:48:41. > :48:49.in that famous note left in the Treasury. Putting the nation 's

:48:50. > :48:53.finances on a sound financial footing as been the core mission of

:48:54. > :48:56.Conservative government over the past seven years. Responsible

:48:57. > :49:02.stewardship of the nation's resources is why we turned Coalition

:49:03. > :49:07.into majority in 2015 and how we will turn a majority of 12 into a

:49:08. > :49:12.majority many times greater on the 8th of June. It is the right thing

:49:13. > :49:27.to do, it is the right thing for an economy for everyone. Mr Gold,

:49:28. > :49:33.please sit down. -- Mr Gold plated them getting the taxpayer to

:49:34. > :49:37.contribute to the right and benefits. Our politicians have to

:49:38. > :49:39.make that judgment and it is our judgment that is the right thing to

:49:40. > :49:45.do to restore furniture in the benefit system between those

:49:46. > :49:51.receiving benefits -- fairness in the benefit system. Making the same

:49:52. > :49:55.financial decisions as those supporting themselves solely through

:49:56. > :50:00.work and that is why, from the 1st of April this year, piled child tax

:50:01. > :50:05.credits are limited to the first two children in a family. This will

:50:06. > :50:14.apply only to new claims. No one currently receiving Clement credits

:50:15. > :50:18.will see their credits reduced. Not everyone will share our judgment of

:50:19. > :50:22.this is the right thing to do and if a majority of MSPs in this

:50:23. > :50:26.Parliament think that we have got this balance wrong, and at a

:50:27. > :50:29.different policy would be the right one for Scotland, we have all the

:50:30. > :50:44.powers we need to do something We have the power to top up any

:50:45. > :50:46.reserved benefit, including child tax credits, and the resources to

:50:47. > :50:53.pay for it, if that is what we choose to do. At the same time as

:50:54. > :50:57.decided we should limit child tax credits, we saw there must be

:50:58. > :51:03.exemptions. What if there is a multiple birth? What of the children

:51:04. > :51:07.are adopted from care? What about when it birth is a consequence of a

:51:08. > :51:12.rape? Just as I support the underlying decision to limit child

:51:13. > :51:16.tax credits, so too do support these exemptions. Because of the issues I

:51:17. > :51:21.refer to at the beginning of my speech, it is obviously the case

:51:22. > :51:25.that the exemption as regards children conceived as a result of

:51:26. > :51:33.the rape, is extraordinarily sensitive. I have heard it said that

:51:34. > :51:37.women will have to prove they were raped. I have heard it said the

:51:38. > :51:42.exemption will apply only where there has been a conviction for

:51:43. > :51:50.rape. That is not the case. There does not even have to have been a

:51:51. > :51:55.charge, never mind a conviction. And even the claimed that a woman has to

:51:56. > :52:06.fill in an eight page form, reliving the horror of her assault and

:52:07. > :52:10.violation, is not... Is the more that we can do to support the

:52:11. > :52:16.survivors of rapes and sexual assault in Scotland? Yes, there is.

:52:17. > :52:23.We could increase the number of sexual assault referral centres.

:52:24. > :52:29.There are 43 such centres in England, there are six in Wales and,

:52:30. > :52:32.in the SNP's Scotland, just one. It is also the case that more than 90%

:52:33. > :52:37.of projects aimed at tackling violence against women and children

:52:38. > :52:42.have suffered cuts and Scottish Government funding. Let me conclude

:52:43. > :52:51.with these remarks. It is sometimes said the Conservatives target the

:52:52. > :52:56.poor. In a sense, that is correct. Since 2010, we have lifted 1.3

:52:57. > :53:01.million low-wage workers out of income tax. At the same time, the

:53:02. > :53:05.national living wage has given a pay rise to 1.7 million people. Our

:53:06. > :53:13.welfare reforms hit higher income families first by removing child

:53:14. > :53:17.benefit. Whereas the Labour Party had a lower rate of tax for the very

:53:18. > :53:22.richest in society, Conservatives have ensured the wealthiest pay a

:53:23. > :53:27.greater share of tax. Under the Conservatives, income inequality is

:53:28. > :53:29.falling. Judgments about the relationship of tax to spend,

:53:30. > :53:35.decisions about getting the balance right between the responsibilities

:53:36. > :53:38.of taxpayers to contribute on the rights of claimants, these are

:53:39. > :53:43.difficult decisions that require tough choices. Limiting child tax

:53:44. > :53:48.credit is the right thing to do, it is stewarding the nation's resources

:53:49. > :53:53.and exempting some families from this is also the right decision. I

:53:54. > :54:09.support the amendment in Ruth Davidson's name. I would like to

:54:10. > :54:15.hear all members in the debate. Like many in here, I entered politics

:54:16. > :54:21.because I believe in equality and social justice, not to punish the

:54:22. > :54:27.poor and reward the rich. Which the Tories ever hear of doing through

:54:28. > :54:35.the benefit system. I am finding it difficult to broach the subject. I

:54:36. > :54:39.am a member myself of a large family. My mother worked part-time,

:54:40. > :54:46.my father was worked until he was 73. Sometimes we relied on free

:54:47. > :54:52.school meals and the help of friends and family. The reason I am

:54:53. > :54:55.struggling with this barbaric, disgusting, disgraceful policy put

:54:56. > :54:59.forward by Westminster and defended by the Tories to cross here in the

:55:00. > :55:04.Scottish Parliament, the reason I am struggling with this policy is, if

:55:05. > :55:10.it was bought into force when I was born, where would we be now? Where

:55:11. > :55:17.would my family, my nieces, nephews, anyone be? I tell you where we would

:55:18. > :55:20.be, we would be absolutely struggling, poverty stricken, even

:55:21. > :55:23.though we have a hard-working families, and that is why I find it

:55:24. > :55:28.really difficult to speak about this. And the people who are

:55:29. > :55:33.struggling just now, this will make it absolutely worse than ever.

:55:34. > :55:40.People who are on low employment, low-wage families, many of them,

:55:41. > :55:46.they are not scroungers, they are working hard, really hard, and the

:55:47. > :55:50.Tories over here are punishing them because they are low paid and

:55:51. > :55:57.because the women is well. I will give you some statistics about that.

:55:58. > :56:06.The thing I find really hard to believe, if you have got a child

:56:07. > :56:11.born after 11:59pm on the 5th of April, 2017, and that child will be

:56:12. > :56:15.brought up in a family that are poorer, the struggling, and children

:56:16. > :56:22.living in abject poverty. A minute either side, and that child will

:56:23. > :56:26.live in abject poverty. A quote from the Tory amendment, the reason for

:56:27. > :56:32.pushing this forward, Ruth Davidson's amendment says, the UK

:56:33. > :56:40.Government has a duty to manage public finances for future

:56:41. > :56:50.generations. What future generations are they protecting? They are

:56:51. > :56:53.destroying women. I find absolutely disgraceful that any political party

:56:54. > :56:59.could think up something quite like this. I said I would give you facts

:57:00. > :57:08.and figures. People are not benefit scroungers. In fact, of all in work

:57:09. > :57:14.families receiving tax credits, 80% and percent of recipients are women.

:57:15. > :57:24.For in work single parents, 94% were women. In work, not workless, which

:57:25. > :57:27.itself is an abomination of a word, in work families, women, and all

:57:28. > :57:31.they are doing is getting a helping hand in case something happens to

:57:32. > :57:37.them, but I would like to put this forward as well. What happens if you

:57:38. > :57:42.are taking precautions and the condom happens to burst? Or you are

:57:43. > :57:47.ill on the pill does not work? Does it tell you in this document what

:57:48. > :57:51.you do then? What happens to these families? What happens to these

:57:52. > :57:57.women? Today have to go to the doctor and get a letter and say, I'm

:57:58. > :58:02.sorry, I have got to produce a burst condom? These are things that are to

:58:03. > :58:07.human life. I am talking about the right of people of dignity and

:58:08. > :58:13.respect, and these Tories over here are taking it from them and defended

:58:14. > :58:18.the policy, and they should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for

:58:19. > :58:23.not even standing up and sticking up for the ordinary people working in

:58:24. > :58:30.this country! APPLAUSE. I wanted to go into the raped close. Ruth

:58:31. > :58:35.Davidson and Andrew Tomkins both practically said the same speech,

:58:36. > :58:39.they both mentioned violation. If you go down to the DWP and you fill

:58:40. > :58:45.in this eight page form, is that not a violation of women's rights? And

:58:46. > :58:56.yet you defend that! I honestly despair. With this proposal, there

:58:57. > :59:02.is no decency left. Have you read or seen even? I saw the bit in the

:59:03. > :59:08.paper today, you said you would give reasons why you defend this. You

:59:09. > :59:11.have got relatives live in Glasgow, you have come from areas where

:59:12. > :59:16.people have got more than two children living on low incomes, how

:59:17. > :59:21.can you possibly defend this and go out there in a Glasgow constituency

:59:22. > :59:27.and say you stick up for ordinary working people? Do you know what it

:59:28. > :59:34.says in the top of this paper? We believe in equality and diversity.

:59:35. > :59:39.Now, is about something? That is it what it says in this eight page

:59:40. > :59:44.form, women who had been raped or domestically abused after filling,

:59:45. > :59:47.we believe in equality and diversity. Welcome you do not

:59:48. > :59:52.believe in anything, or you believe is looking after yourselves and the

:59:53. > :59:58.rich, and the poor and the ones that will suffer and particularly women

:59:59. > :00:10.have to prove they have been raped? You should be ashamed of yourselves!

:00:11. > :00:20.I would like to start by paying tribute to the very moving testimony

:00:21. > :00:24.offered by Miss Dugdale and Miss White. I also congratulate the

:00:25. > :00:32.Scottish Government for bringing forward this motion. We will support

:00:33. > :00:37.both amendments. Who can forget the inaugural words of Theresa May's

:00:38. > :00:40.tenure as Prime Minister when in her own moment on the steps of Number

:00:41. > :00:45.10, she said of those families who in particular rely on tax credits,

:00:46. > :00:49.if you from an ordinary working class family, life is much harder

:00:50. > :00:54.than many people in Westminster realise, you have a job but do not

:00:55. > :00:57.have job security, you have own home at you worry about paying the

:00:58. > :01:01.mortgage, you can just about manage but you worry about the cost of

:01:02. > :01:05.living in getting your kids into a good school. I know you are working

:01:06. > :01:08.round the clock and doing your best and sometimes life can be a

:01:09. > :01:14.struggle. The government is it will be driven not by the interests of

:01:15. > :01:18.the privileged few but by yours. In the two child tax credit cap and the

:01:19. > :01:22.raped clause that underpins it, we see the measure of that commitment

:01:23. > :01:26.made flesh, and I am certain those words have turned to ash in her

:01:27. > :01:31.mouth. There are days in this chamber when we debate matters of

:01:32. > :01:37.welfare reform and social security. I rise to speak with trepidation,

:01:38. > :01:41.recognition there were times my own party participated in decisions and

:01:42. > :01:46.reforms that were distasteful to us as liberals but less greed than

:01:47. > :01:51.those originally proposed by our partners. Members opposite lose no

:01:52. > :01:54.time in reminding me of that in colourful interventions, but the

:01:55. > :01:58.untold story of our days in coalition is what never made it to

:01:59. > :02:04.the statute books, thanks to Liberal Democrats resistance. They would

:02:05. > :02:07.Pina lies any workers outside the south-east of England is,

:02:08. > :02:13.inheritance tax cuts for millionaires, enhanced powers for

:02:14. > :02:15.employers to sack staff. As I told the First Minister in my

:02:16. > :02:20.intervention, this abhorrent policy would have been on the statute books

:02:21. > :02:26.for years had my party not taken a stand and block the coalition. No

:02:27. > :02:29.point is my party ever denied that welfare reform was needed. Indeed,

:02:30. > :02:38.the poverty Alliance have said that the old system was no longer fit for

:02:39. > :02:42.purpose but, on this, the have got it far wrong. The policy that we

:02:43. > :02:45.debate this afternoon has rightly grabbed national attention to the

:02:46. > :02:51.raped clause but it is the two child cap at the root of the policy which

:02:52. > :02:55.will see families drift between Neath poverty. At present, the

:02:56. > :03:02.national outrage that is child poverty stands at 250,000 children

:03:03. > :03:07.or more and it is rising. Family tax credits have, thanks to the Lib Dem

:03:08. > :03:16.uplift in the income tax threshold, being the best if addressing family

:03:17. > :03:24.poverty. I wonder if the member thinks that even one Tory, even one,

:03:25. > :03:30.will have the dignity, honesty and self-respect to vote against the

:03:31. > :03:35.party tonight at decision time? I thank him for his intervention. I

:03:36. > :03:40.would very much hope so but sadly I doubt it. As I was saying, the

:03:41. > :03:45.income tax threshold and tax credits have been the most effective means

:03:46. > :03:49.of addressing in work family poverty and with a pound weakening, the cost

:03:50. > :03:52.of living rising as a result of the Tory hard Brexit, the manager hard

:03:53. > :03:56.Brexit, to manage an assault on tax credits now would see those numbers

:03:57. > :04:01.grow further and faster. It gives the lie to the warm words of our new

:04:02. > :04:09.Prime Minister. I described the cap is the root of the clause. If you

:04:10. > :04:13.were to suggest such a cap or necessary, and I reject that is, to

:04:14. > :04:19.bring in such a restriction without any exemptions would be unfair and

:04:20. > :04:23.inhumane. That is why it is so barbaric about the notion of

:04:24. > :04:29.determining public policy on the basis of an upward limit on

:04:30. > :04:33.child-bearing. Any such policy would lead by necessity to a raped clause

:04:34. > :04:37.and if a policy necessitates a precondition whereby women must

:04:38. > :04:41.actively proved to an employee of the state or third party that they

:04:42. > :04:47.have been raped, such policy has no place in a civilised society.

:04:48. > :04:51.Because let us speak truthfully about the landscape in which rape

:04:52. > :04:59.survivors find themselves in modern Britain. Conviction rates of rape

:05:00. > :05:03.cases stand to 33%. If you ensure a raped, one of the most life

:05:04. > :05:07.shattering, poisonous, dehumanising acts imaginable, and you can get

:05:08. > :05:10.enough evidence to press charges, you can expect to be believed about

:05:11. > :05:12.one third of the time.