Rachel, 34, was promoted from shadow Treasury Secretary to Labour’s welfare chief in leader Ed Miliband’s October reshuffle
Rachel Reeves knows what she will do first on May 8, 2015 – scrap the Bedroom
Tax.
That’s the date she will walk into Iain Duncan Smith’s Whitehall office as Work and Pensions Secretary if Labour wins the election the day before.
That’s if IDS cannot be forced to abandon it first, she told the Sunday
People.
The pressure will be on him on Tuesday when MPs get their first chance to vote on his hated benefit money grab.
A Government defeat is unlikely , but a significant rebellion would leave the tax in tatters.
Labour has secured a day-long Commons debate on getting rid of what IDS prefers to call the spare room subsidy.
His reforms are in chaos, with his plans for Universal Credit to replace most working age benefits the latest casualty.
He will face heartbreaking tales of what it means to lose on average £14 a week for one bedroom and £25 for more.
“The problem with Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron is that their lives are so remote and detached from the people their policies affect,” says Rachel, a rising star on Labour’s frontline.
“On Tuesday MPs will tell them the real stories of those affected in the way the Sunday People has been doing so well. And ministers will have to listen.
“This is an opportunity for MPs, especially Lib Dem MPs, to show whose side they’re really on.
Rachel, 34, was promoted from shadow Treasury Secretary to Labour’s welfare chief in leader Ed Miliband’s October reshuffle.
She juggles one of Labour’s key jobs with bringing up seven-month old baby Anna with husband Nicholas Joicey, a top civil servant.
“It’s a challenge but I have it easier than many of my Leeds West constituents,” she says.
“I’m in work, earning a decent wage. Many have to do two jobs, on minimum wages and zero-hour contracts.”
She sees first hand the misery of the Bedroom Tax as victims parade through her MP surgery desperate for help.
“There are men in their 50s breaking down in tears,” Rachel adds.
“The Sunday People has been brilliant bringing this campaign to life. You are showing up the Government’s hypocrisy and double standards.”
Sunday People
That’s the date she will walk into Iain Duncan Smith’s Whitehall office as Work and Pensions Secretary if Labour wins the election the day before.
She promises: “In the first few days of a Labour government the
Bedroom Tax will be gone.”
The pressure will be on him on Tuesday when MPs get their first chance to vote on his hated benefit money grab.
A Government defeat is unlikely , but a significant rebellion would leave the tax in tatters.
Labour has secured a day-long Commons debate on getting rid of what IDS prefers to call the spare room subsidy.
His reforms are in chaos, with his plans for Universal Credit to replace most working age benefits the latest casualty.
He will face heartbreaking tales of what it means to lose on average £14 a week for one bedroom and £25 for more.
“The problem with Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron is that their lives are so remote and detached from the people their policies affect,” says Rachel, a rising star on Labour’s frontline.
“On Tuesday MPs will tell them the real stories of those affected in the way the Sunday People has been doing so well. And ministers will have to listen.
“This is an opportunity for MPs, especially Lib Dem MPs, to show whose side they’re really on.
Rachel, 34, was promoted from shadow Treasury Secretary to Labour’s welfare chief in leader Ed Miliband’s October reshuffle.
She juggles one of Labour’s key jobs with bringing up seven-month old baby Anna with husband Nicholas Joicey, a top civil servant.
“It’s a challenge but I have it easier than many of my Leeds West constituents,” she says.
“I’m in work, earning a decent wage. Many have to do two jobs, on minimum wages and zero-hour contracts.”
She sees first hand the misery of the Bedroom Tax as victims parade through her MP surgery desperate for help.
“There are men in their 50s breaking down in tears,” Rachel adds.
“The Sunday People has been brilliant bringing this campaign to life. You are showing up the Government’s hypocrisy and double standards.”
Sunday People
