7 truly terrifying things the Conservative Party are doing in government
by From the rise of food banks to cuts amounting to billions to Scotland’s budget by Westminster Tories, here’s just some of the truly terrifying things that the Conservative Party is doing in government.
1. Forcing families to feed their children from food banks through benefit sanctions
Four million children are now living in poverty in the UK with the punitive benefit sanctions regime leaving parents unable to properly feed their children and forced to rely on food banks.
Read more about the Tories’ Benefit Sanctions here.
2. By 2019-20, Westminster Tories will have imposed cuts of £2.9 billion on Scotland’s budget – that’s before the impact of Brexit
Over the next ten years the UK government plans to cut Scotland’s budget by £2.9 billion – over 9% of Scotland’s overall budget in real terms.
Further analysis shows that a hard Brexit could see public spending reduced further by up to £3.7 billion a year.
Read more about how the SNP have protected Scotland from the Tories.
3. The rape clause – making women relive the trauma of rape
The Tory government in Westminster is cutting child tax credits for families with more than two children and implementing the Rape Clause. This requires women to prove they’ve been raped in order to qualify for child tax credits for a third child.Ruth Davidson has even given her backing to this despite calls for her to oppose this cruel and callous policy.
Read more about the Rape Clause here.
4. Balancing the books on the backs of the poor while giving tax breaks to the rich
The Tories continue to live up to their moniker as the ‘Nasty Party’ with policies consistently attacking the poor and vulnerable – introducing the bedroom tax, taking away motability vehicles, cutting £30 per week from unemployed disabled people, removing Housing Benefit from young people – whilst giving tax breaks to the richest in society.
Read more about the SNP’s opposition to the Tories’ policies.
5. A disregard for basic humanity with a callous immigration policy
The Tories have adopted an increasingly xenophobic attitude towards immigration – using EU nationals as bargaining chips after the EU referendum, leading to families who have lived and contributed to Scotland for years being told to leave.
The Tories have also failed to show a basic level of humanity when it comes to the on-going refugee crisis – choosing to abandon vulnerable children fleeing conflict from the world’s most dangerous warzones.
Read more about why their decisions on refugees is a dereliction of our moral duty.
6. Short-changing and privatising the NHS
The Tory government continues to underfund the NHS and they fabled extra £350 million a week promised for the health service by Boris Johnson is still nowhere to be seen.Even the Tory Chair of the Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston, has said that the Tories have broken their promises on NHS funding.
The SNP will always keep Scotland’s NHS safe in public hands.Get the facts on the Health Service in Scotland here.
7. Reduction and erosion of our employment and workers’ rights
Leading Tories including Boris Johnson, and Priti Patel have demanded that Brexit be used as an opportunity to remove and reduce workers’ rights, calling it a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.
The SNP is working with the powers we have to ensure workers in Scotland have improved conditions and pay – read more here.