SNP MP says that departure of peer gives UK government a chance to rethink welfare policy
THE resignation of Lord Freud, UK minister of state for welfare reform, has been welcomed by anti-austerity campaigners and MPs as a chance to roll back the infamous rape clause as part of welfare reforms.
SNP MP Alison Thewliss said that the resignation of the Conservative peer, who ran welfare reform under David Cameron from 2010, was “without doubt one of coldest, heartless and most ignorant politicians” she had ever met.
Freud proposed limiting tax credits to two children per family and instituting a rape clause where women would have to prove their third or subsequent child was born as a result of rape. Freud had previously said women who are subject to domestic and sexual abuse should “just flee” their situations.
“His blatant disregard for some of the most vulnerable women in society was utterly appalling and his departure from government is a very welcome development.” Alison Thewliss
Commenting on Freud’s resignation announcement, Thewliss said: “Lord Freud was without doubt one of the coldest, most heartless and ignorant politicians I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with in almost ten years of elected politics.
“His blatant disregard for some of the most vulnerable women in society was utterly appalling and his departure from government is a very welcome development. His suggestion that women experiencing abuse from their intimate partner should “just flee” revealed to me how utterly out of touch he was with reality and how unfit he was to be making policy for women and children who have already been through severe trauma.”
“Lord Freud’s departure from Government gives me a real and renewed sense of hope that this Government will now see sense and ditch this appalling proposal.” Alison Thewliss
The former vice chairman of banking giant USB, and a former advisor to the New Labour prime minister Tony Blair had been brought into government to dismantle the “something for nothing culture” at the heart of benefits system. However, many including Thewliss have clashed with Freud over what they say are his ideological and uncompassionate approaches to welfare reform.
Thewliss added: “With the Government’s rape clause consultation having just closed at the weekend, I am heartened in the knowledge that Freud will no longer be overseeing this medieval and pernicious policy agenda.
“Lord Freud’s departure from Government gives me a real and renewed sense of hope that this Government will now see sense and ditch this appalling proposal."
Picture courtesy of You Tube
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