Dining Out On Rape; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon’s Government playing petty politics on welfare issue exposed as an utter sham as SNP minister refuses to find 'rape clause' cash, having manufactured a fake problem over two child cap limit, SNP leader and her female cabal left looking like inarticulate fools and charlatans

Dear All

The UK Government has set a two-child limit on benefits, in order not to disadvantage the victims of crime who have been raped, the UK government sensibly put in place measures so that the small number of women affected would get financial help. 

The two child limit is sensible, as is making provision for the victims of crime, in this case rape. One thing about politics which is pointless is faux outrage, all done with a purpose, to garner support, garner votes and make out, they are the people who should be in charge.

The SNP seized on the two child limit and then started to bang on about the help for rape victims claiming there was a ‘rape clause, leading the charge was SNP MP Alison Thewliss, a former councillor. Having whipped up the mob, Ms Thewliss, not the smartest tool in the box, has been dining on this for years.

Alison ‘rape clause’ Thewliss.

Not much of a legacy when she is eventually put out the door at Westminster.

The SNP has used the ‘rape clause’ as a stick to beat the Conservative Government, but the truth is that what the SNP say and what they do speaks volumes, they talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Scotland’s Social Security Secretary has been criticised after insisting she will not find the money to offset the so-called ‘rape clause’. The faux outrage exposed again for what it is petty politics playing a cruel game with people as pawns. Shirley Anne-Somerville has repeatedly deplored its impact but when push comes to shove, she said the responsibility lay squarely with the UK Government.

So, to be clear, the government led by ardent and passionate feminist, Nicola Sturgeon won’t provide a financial fix. In a press interview with the Times, Somerville also sidestepped a question on whether she had even asked Finance Secretary Derek Mackay for money to mitigate the benefit curb.

Why so shy?

Coming a bit late to the party, Scottish Labour accused Somerville of being too stubborn to fix a “callous policy”. Is it not amazing that Scottish Labour is jumping in for scraps, of course, we should remember this Westminster issue is being used for domestic Holyrood politics.

Somerville said

“People are calling for us to mitigate but we are taking this as far as we can at this point. It’s not our policy to alleviate the two-child cap.”

So, what is taking this as far as we can actually mean?

Just talk, no action!

Asked how she could oppose mitigating the rape clause when she appeared not to know the cost of doing so, she replied:

“Well, I know there is no additional money in the Scottish budget. I think we need to continuously push to get these things dealt with at source rather than the assumption being that we can mitigate against this.”

This is classic SNP, unwilling to do a job themselves but quite happy to push it onto others to fix, in this case, the UK Government, even if the problem is an SNP invention.

Asked if she had asked Derek Mackay for the funds to mitigate the rape clause, she said:

“I don’t think you can set one cabinet secretary against another. We are all frustrated. We would all want to do more.”

I want world peace, but that is just a hope, also a house move, but that is just aspiration as well.

Put to her that the SNP preferred not to act because it left the rape clause as a political tool to beat the UK government, she replied:

“I don’t get any pleasure from this at all. But I also won’t stop, because the responsibility lies in Westminster to see the damage that policy is creating.”

Asking someone to tell the truth so that they can get help and what they are entitled too is responsible government, no matter what the colour or the party, in this case, the Conservatives identified a problem and put in place help. This exercise in petty politics is all about getting the two child cap limit scrapped, which will not happen even in the event that there is a change of government at Westminster.

And don’t kid yourself on that one.

Scottish Labour Social Security spokesperson Mark Griffin MSP said:

“This stubborn refusal of the SNP to take action on the two child cap will exasperate people across Scotland.  The 2016 Scotland Act delivered new powers to our parliament that allows for the creation of new social security payments for people in Scotland. If the SNP government wanted to, it could effectively end the cap and scrap the rape clause, and do what we can to reverse the devastating effects of this callous policy. Instead, ministers are refusing to do so, despite the Scottish Parliament taking action on the bedroom tax and housing benefit cuts. This inconsistency will infuriate people across the country who want to see the government using its powers to protect people.”

The difference between the ‘bedroom tax’ and the ‘rape clause’ is that it has wider voter appeal and is ‘more trendy’ as a political tool, the ‘rape clause’ isn’t trendy at all, in fact it is a conversation killer. Having manufactured a fake problem for petty political argument, the SNP are now being beaten with the same stick they created. You can see how much stock the SNP put into the ‘rape clause’ farce by looking at who they got to front it. 

The same Alison Thewliss who was known by some wags as 'Alison Clueless' down the Glasgow City Council!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University