Bedroom Tax

Today the debate regarding the bedroom tax as been lost, it makes more than 500,000 people being affected, many of which are pensioners who have brought up families and paid their dues, taxes, and given their sons and daughters to protect this country from evil. This is their repayment. If you care then please share and vote for any party but Conservative or Lib Dem, they love the Bedroom tax. I have no doubt the Labour Party are being opportunistic and playing political games with the bedroom tax. I also believe there isn’t a hope in hell’s chance of it being repealed before the next election.

Yet I do wish reporters would actually know some basic facts –

“The ‘bedroom tax’ limits housing benefit if a claimant is deemed to have one or more spare rooms.”

The bedroom tax is so called because the legislation that enacted it says without any ambiguity whatsoever that it can only be imposed on a bedroom and NOT on any old spare room!!

I have just watched the first hour or so and Mark Harper the minister has misled parliament. He said – which of course Hansard will confirm this evening – that all overnight carers are exempted in the policy in response to a question about 60,000 carers being hit by it. The fact and regulation states this only applies to a NON RESIDENT overnight carer.
So apart from misleading parliament it is also the case that the minister doesn’t know what the policy actually is.
He went on to say that bedroom tax save £500m per year which i am frankly sick and tired of saying MUST be a knowing lie as it is mathematical impossibility given 481k affected at £14.92 per week can only make £380m or so per annum then take off DHP and all other costs – and of course that the bedroom tax along with benefit cap, LHA cap and SAR all of the HB cutting measures have seen the HB bill INCREASE and with 132,000 less claimants since April 2013.

The ONLY conclusion is that all the welfare reform policies including the bedroom tax actually COSTS more than they save. that is an apolitical and arithmetic fact

Numbers don’t lie only MPs do