Labour child poverty u-turn a betrayal of most deprived families
The two-child cap and rape clause were introduced in 2017 and have had a devastating effect on low-income families. The Child Poverty Action Group has reported that 80,000 children in Scotland have been impacted by this policy.
In its first three years of the policy’s operation, almost a thousand women across the UK were forced to disclose that one of their children had been conceived as a result of rape in order to receive social security payments like the child element of tax credits.
Scottish Greens finance spokesperson, Ross Greer MSP, said:
“This is an appalling u-turn by a Labour leader who has dropped almost every single one of his own policies before he’s even had a sniff of power. The rape clause has to be one of the cruellest policies ever to come out of Westminster and yet Labour are now quite happy to keep it.
“Instead of actually opposing the Tories, Keir Starmer has spent years listing all their cruel and extreme policies which he’d keep if he becomes the next Prime Minister. That’s despite those policies fuelling poverty and suffering all across the country. It is an outright betrayal of the most deprived families in the country.
“With every day it becomes clearer that a Starmer government will only entrench the brutal legacy of this Tory government, protecting the personal interests of the wealthiest whilst pulling the rug from under those who need support the most.
“I know that many Scottish Labour MSPs and members are appalled by Starmer’s statement, but their leadership is defending it and this is what they’ll all be asking people to vote for come the next election.
“Compare that to the actions taken here in Scotland, where the Scottish Greens are in government.
“We have already delivered a groundbreaking Scottish Child Payment of £25 per week for the most vulnerable families, free bus travel for everyone under twenty-two, a freeze on rents and come October we will remove peak-time rail fares.
“With the full powers of a normal independent country we could do so much more to realise the full potential being lost to poverty and Tory cruelty.”
