Labour MSP Neil Findlay raises a point of order and says it is wrong that Ruth Davidson will not take interventions and says she should be ashamed of herself.

Mr Findlay is told in no uncertain terms that that is not a point of order by Ken Macintosh.

Ms Davidson goes on to say it is important that the process is not misrepresented, saying the woman who has been raped only has to write her name and the third party professional does the rest with the form.

Social Security Minister Jeanne Freeman raises a point of order to say she is holding the form which details the applicant must do more than simply fill out her name.

Ms Freeman calls for accuracy to be maintained, but she too is told this is not a point of order.

The UK Tory government insists its system will ensure women who had a child through rape are not denied tax credits.

That includes allowing an "approved person" to give evidence to HM Revenue and Customs to spare victims the trauma of reliving their ordeal.

Its guidance says: "In developing this requirement, the government has sought to strike a balance between the need to treat such cases with sensitivity and the need to ensure that child tax credit is paid only to persons who are genuinely entitled to it."

Image source, Getty Images

A DWP spokeswoman: "We have always been clear this will be delivered in the most effective, compassionate way, with the right exceptions and safeguards in place."

The spokeswoman said that, in cases where victims have accessed support from third parties or charities, the DWP will be notified by these organisations and it will not be investigated.

The spokeswoman was unable to explain how claims would be verified when made by a woman who had never accessed support or told anyone about being raped.

The government added that the policy was debated and voted on in parliament and the exceptions were consulted on widely.

Ms Davidson says the UK government agrees that the two-children exemption should not apply to those who have been raped.

The Scottish Tory leader says the issue is implementation and many have not presented the facts.

She says that some have claimed that an eight page document will have to be completed by the claimant but that is not the case.

Ms Davidson says that the onus is not on the claimant and that third party professionals will do the rest. 

Image source, bbc

Ms Davidson says she would like to place the issue in context.

She says the 'rape clause' issue came about due to efforts to eliminate the deficit and reduce welfare spending.

The Tory MSP says she will not be taking any interventions as the issue should not be subject to the knock about seen daily at Holyrood.

She says the welfare budget had to be looked at.

The Tory MSP says the limiting of child tax credits to the first two children does not apply to those currently on it.

She accepts this has been a difficult judgement call but points out Labour did not vote against the welfare reform legislation. 

Image source, HMRC

The government requires a form to be filled in which is a declaration by the claimant and by the third-party professional, external that the terms of the exemption have been met.

The HMRC website states: "You'll need to complete the non-consensual conception form with the help of an approved third-party professional", external. It says: "You don't have speak to, or give details about the circumstances of the conception to HMRC staff."The interpretation of this requirement has caused dispute, with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson hitting out at the "misinformation" about the changes, saying women would not have to fill out a form saying they had been raped.

She said: "They don't have to speak to the DWP, they don't have to declare that they have gone to the police, they don't have to have a medical intervention.

"All they have to do is write their name and someone who is either a healthcare worker or a social worker does everything else for them."

However, Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said she had "grave concerns that there was no suitable infrastructure or training to support the implementation of the policy".

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson says she welcomes this debate because issues like this should be discussed in parliament.

Ms Davidson says "we all know people who have been raped" and that many in parliament have been subject to sexual violence.

The Scottish Tory leader says she has spoken to women who have been through the ordeal and knows the difficulties they face. 

She says she agrees that words like "sensitivity" do not cut it for women who have been through such an ordeal. 

Image source, PA

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson uses her amendment to say "the UK government has a duty to manage public finances carefully for future generations", highlighting attempts to "curb increasing welfare spending by reducing benefits to those on higher incomes".

She also noted that "the Scottish government has the power to reverse the two-child limit on tax credits by using newly-devolved powers if it so chooses", and added that the exemption for rape victims "must be implemented as compassionately as possible and monitored closely".

The Scottish Tory leader has previously said that Ms Sturgeon could be charged with "gross hypocrisy" if she simply wanted to complain about the UK government without using Holyrood's powers to act.

Ms Sturgeon says the parliament can take a firm stand against a policy that has no place in a civilised society and calls on all MSPs to back her motion. 

Ms Sturgeon says the Scottish government cannot accept that the Tories can make whatever "callous" cuts that they want and that they must mitigate them.

"Lets forget the sticking plaster approach," she says.

Ms Sturgeon says tax credits should be devolved allowing the Scottish government to make its own decisions. 

Ms Sturgeon asks Ruth Davidson to imagine the trauma of any mother having to go through this process, having been raped.

The first minister says the Tories argument will be that the inhumanity of this should be just ignored.

She says they will says the Scottish government should just apply "some sticking plaster".

The Scottish government cannot abolish the two child cap or the 'rape clause', it does not have the power, says Ms Sturgeon.

She says when the UK government makes these cuts it does not pass on Scotland's share to the Scottish government.

Mitigation, therefore, involves taking money already allocated to schools or hospitals.

Ms Sturgeon says this particular benefit cut and the rape clause is "going too far in the wrong direction".

The need to include the rape clause is "callous", she says.

The first minister says the policy is not just immoral but unworkable.

"It puts an unnecessary burden on health workers," she says. 

She says the UK government cannot answer questions on how this will work.

Ms Sturgeon calls on Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson to answer this question today.

During her interview at the Women in the World summit in New York, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the 'rape clause' was a "disgusting and disgraceful policy".

In her newspaper column, Ms Sturgeon condemned the Scottish Conservatives' "complicity" in the "utterly immoral policies" of the UK government.

The new rules mean that children born after Thursday 6 April into families where there are already two or more children will no longer be counted in benefit payments to their parents, under either tax credits or Universal Credit.

And from autumn 2018, families making new claims under Universal Credit will only receive payments for their first two children even if they were born before then.

However, children already receiving Universal Credit or tax credit payments will not lose them for as long as their family's existing claim continues.

And Child Benefit, external, which is separate, will be unaffected.

Image source, bbc

The latest official figures, external show that 872,000 families with more than two children were claiming tax credits in 2014-15.

And a similar number of families are likely to lose out under the changes, the researchers suggest.

In 2014-15, two thirds (65%) were working families and 68% had no more than three children, say the researchers.

Based on those figures, the researchers calculate that once the new policy is fully implemented an additional 100,000 adults and 200,000 children could face poverty.  

Ms Sturgeon cites cuts to mobility allowance and young people.

The first minister says it is shocking that the UN has described the cuts to disabled people as a systematic violation of their rights.

She points out that the majority of the impact of the benefit cuts are on women. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says, last Thursday, she attended the demonstration against the rape clause outside parliament along with many other MSPs.

Ms Sturgeon says the UK government have introduced a cap on child tax credit to two children which will affect low income families.

The first minister says two thirds of the families that will be affected by this cap are working families on low incomes.

She says for the past seven years the UK government has systematically cut social security benefits.

"Sick and disabled people have seen there benefits cut by £30 per week," she says.

Image source, Thinkstock

Changes to benefit rules could push 200,000 more children into poverty, say campaigners.

Payments for some benefits are now limited to the first two children in a family.

The Child Poverty Action Group and Institute for Public Policy Research say some families will be almost £3,000 a year worse off under the new rules.

Ministers say they are determined to tackle the root causes of disadvantage and make work pay.

The changes affect families who claim tax credits and Universal Credit - which is in the process of being rolled out and is due to replace tax credits completely by 2022.

Image source, bbc

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says: 

• the Institute of Fiscal Studies states that, across the UK, these cuts will lead to around 600,000 three-child families being £2,500-a-year worse off
• and 300,000 families with four or more children being £7,000-a-year worse off, with on average two thirds of the families affected having at least one adult in paid work