MP Thewliss rails against Tory austerity

MP Thewliss rails against Tory austerity

SNP MP Alison Thewliss today took the UK Government to task during a parliamentary debate on Government’s Autumn Statement and its impact on women.

Leading the debate on behalf of the SNP in the Commons, the Glasgow Central MP railed against the recent Autumn Statement which she said was a real “missed opportunity” for women.

Commenting after speaking in Parliament, Alison Thewliss said:

“Today’s debate was an opportunity for us to shine a very bright light on the fact that this Government’s austerity agenda disproportionately impacts women. We know that tax and benefit changes since 2010 will have hit women’s incomes twice as hard as men by 2020. Women will be on average over £1,000 worse off by 2020; for men, that figure will be £555.

“The Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity for our new female Prime Minister to stand up for women. Instead, it appears the Prime Minister has pulled the ladder up behind her.

“As part of the continued economic offensive against women, last month’s Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity to scrap the rape clause and two child policy. It was a missed opportunity to deliver justice for women affected by state pension inequality, who are being forced to work longer for their pension. It was a missed opportunity to give everyone access to a real living wage.

“I also pressed the Minister on the on-going tampon tax. Whilst it’s welcome that the Government is diverting VAT raised from the tampon tax into women’s good causes, the reality remains that I and millions of other women are still being taxed every month for having periods. The Government need to press ahead without haste and secure agreement from Europe to abolish the tampon tax.

“My colleague Angela Crawley MP has been doing a sterling job in campaigning against the 4% fee levied on Child Maintenance Service payments for women and children trying to rebuild their lives after domestic abuse. The Prime Minister must respond to legitimate calls for the Government to axe this cruel tax on child support payments.”

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.