AS part of her trip to the UK, the UN's investigator Raquel Rolnik considered a dossier the Daily Record had put together to outline problems suffered by Scots because of the hated bedroom tax.
THE Daily Record has been campaigning against the bedroom tax since it first
came into effect.
The stories below were included in the dossier we handed over to UN investigator Raquel Rolnik when she visited Scotland.
The stories below were included in the dossier we handed over to UN investigator Raquel Rolnik when she visited Scotland.
Back in March, Peter Papworth, who cares for his disabled wife Amanda, told how he would rather go to jail than pay an additional weekly £9.96 under the tax. He said: “My stomach is knotted with anger. To some people it might only be £40 a month but we simply cannot afford it. This will have a devastating effect on us.”
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In June, amputee Andrew McIntyre told how he had fallen foul of the tax because his elderly mother had been taken into a care home. He said: “It means I’m going to have to do without other things but I’m so stunned I’ve not even been able to work out the money side of things yet.”
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In May, we heard how blind widow Helen Sockell faced eviction because of the tax. She said: “If I lose the house, I just won’t be able to go on. I’ve thought of nothing else since I received this letter.”
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Last month, former soldier Dennis Buchan told hoe he had lost almost half his benefits because of the tax. He said: “I risked my life for my country. I feel so let down. It makes me so angry to have been left to struggle like this.”
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In May, Angela Buskie told how she had been threatened with eviction by Labour-run South Lanarkshire Council. She explained: “I’ve never been in debt before in my life, but I simply cannot afford the bedroom tax as it would leave me with less than £10 a week for my shopping.”
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And in our most dramatic story, disabled Lawrence Keane last month revealed how he had tried to commit suicide in a council office because of the tax. He said: “I stood up and asked them if they wanted my blood because that’s all I had left to give. I started hacking at both my arms.”
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