Labour vows to scrap '˜abhorrent' rape clause

Jeremy Corbyn will launch Labour's manifesto today. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Jeremy Corbyn is to commit a future Labour government to abolishing the rape clause across the UK.

The Herald has reported that, as he launches his party’s manifesto in Manchester, the Labour leader will pledge to scrap the “abhorrent” policy as part of a roll-back of Conservative austerity cuts.

The rape clause refers to an exemption from the new two-child cap on child tax credit.

Women who have had a later child as a result of rape, or during a coercive relationship, are allowed to claim extra benefit if they recount their ordeal to a third party professional.

They must also name their child as part of completing an eight-page form about the rape.

Glasgow lawyer uses crowdfunding to challenge '˜rape clause'

Politicians of all Holyrood parties except the Conservatives have condemned the policy and are calling for it to be scrapped.

During a Holyrood debate on the clause last month, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale read out a letter from a woman who had a child following rape and said she might have killed herself if she had been obliged to describe what she had experienced to strangers to qualify for benefits.

Mr Corbyn said: “Labour will end the abhorrent rape clause across the UK.

“Kezia Dugdale’s powerful speech in the Scottish Parliament demonstrated the heart-breaking reality of the rape clause.”