SCOTTISH TORIES were branded “skin crawling” and “out of touch” today after one of the party’s MSPs dismissed the existence of child benefit’s “rape clause.”

Brian Whittle, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, said “there is no such thing as a rape clause,” adding: “That’s an invention.”

He had been asked about the two-child cap for child benefit under Tory social security reforms, which allows an exemption for rape victims who prove they conceived without consent.

The MSP told Holyrood magazine: “Why don’t we call it a children-in-care clause? Because it’s part of the same thing.

“The term ‘rape clause’ is an invention to beat the Tories with. It’s the invention of another political party.”

And he added that he should not have to answer for Conservative policy laid down in London because he was not in government. He said: “I don’t have to answer for Westminster policy. I have to answer for devolved policy in here.”

SNP MSP Shona Robison said that Mr Whittle’s comments showed “clearly how completely out of touch with the real world the Scottish Tories are.”

She said: “Brian Whittle has shown total contempt for victims of rape and coercion with his comments, when the reality is that the Tory government has inflicted this policy on low-income families.

“The ‘rape clause’ is not a political invention — it’s an utterly horrific and abhorrent invention of the Tory government, and last year impacted on 190 women who had to fill in the eight-page form to get financial support for their child.”

Scottish Labour social security spokesman Mark Griffin said Mr Whittle’s arguments “could have come straight from Esther McVey or Iain Duncan Smith.”

He stormed: “Calling the ‘rape clause’ an invention to attack the Tory Party is simply skin-crawling.

“The clause is the product of an unfair cap that was implemented to penalise poor families so George Osborne could hand massive tax cuts to the wealthy.”

Labour criticised the SNP government last week for failing to axe the two-child cap when Finance Secretary Derek Mackay presented his draft budget to the Scottish Parliament.

“Labour across the UK will redesign social security — but Holyrood has the powers to defend families from the cap now,” Mr Griffin said.

Conrad Landin is Morning Star Scotland Editor.