TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has called for the government to scrap the bedroom tax.
Welcoming Labour’s pledge to repeal the unpopular policy, Frances O’Grady said:
“The bedroom tax is a cruel policy that is hitting vulnerable people in desperate need of help.
“Scrapping it will ease the fears of thousands of low-income families and disabled people worried about being forced out of homes they’ve lived in for decades. Councils would no longer have to waste valuable time and resources chasing them for mounting arrears.
“With one in three affected council house tenants already falling behind on their rent since the bedroom tax was introduced, it is doubtful whether it will save any money at all. Nonetheless covering the theoretical cost of scrapping it provides a great excuse to ditch the Chancellor’s shares for rights scheme – a policy flop that has now turned into a £1billion tax dodge for venture capitalists and private equity sharks.
“With both Labour and the Liberal Democrats both now committed to scrapping the barmy bedroom tax, the onus is now on the government to do the right thing and end the policy now.”
Research published on Thursday by the anti-cuts campaign group False Economy found that one in three council tenants across 114 local authorities that responded to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have fallen behind on their rent since the introduction of the bedroom tax in Aril this year.
Labour’s announcement was also welcomed by Unite, whose assistant general secretary Steve Turner said:
“”Thousands of people and their families have been put through utter hell by this cruel policy. Their crime it appears is not to be rich enough to own their own home. If the rich want a second home, they get a state grant – but the poor get hounded for having a second bedroom. It is an obscenity and it shames Britain, so well done Labour for pledging to ditch it.
“Now, those people up and down the land forced to live with the threat of debt, misery and losing their homes can finally believe that this nightmare will come to an end, and for that we applaud Labour.
“But until 2015 and a Labour victory, this monstrous policy remains with people daily being hounded out of their homes and into debt. So Unite will continue to mobilise in communities to ensure that those in fear for their homes can stay in their homes.
“This policy speaks volumes about a truly nasty party which has no understanding of or care for the struggles of ordinary people and as such is unfit to govern.”
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