'Keep the fight' against rape clause says Edinburgh council leader ahead of protest

Council leader Adam McVey said people need to keep the fight against the damaging Department for Work and Pensions rape clause as activists step up pressure in a protest tonight at The Mound.

The widely condemned policy caps child tax credits at two children, slashing support for any third or subsequent children unless they meet the limited exemption criteria.

One such exemption – the rape clause – deems that if a third or subsequent child is born of rape then the mother must complete an eight page form and have it verified by a third party to claim benefits.

Cllr McVey: “The family cap is pushing more families into poverty in the Capital and throughout the country.

“Over the last year families have come to City Chambers to highlight the additional hardship this callous attack has caused their families.

“This had breached a key purpose of our welfare system – to help people who are in need.

“The UK government has broken this principle and is now making judgements on how many children women should have.

“It cannot be right that a third child isn’t worth supporting. It cannot be right that a third child in a family is an excuse to push that family into greater hardship.

“We must always remember that these policies, as shameful as they are, they are not the only attack on welfare by this Government.

“People have been driven to suicide by the hardship created, a fact barely acknowledged by the UK Government.

“The family cap is not the only attack on people in need but it is one of the worst.

“People need to keep up the fight to ditch this damaging policy and push towards a welfare system worthy of the name.”

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