Repealing the 'Bedroom Tax' is the right thing to do says Plymouth MP

A Plymouth MP has welcomed the Labour Party’s decision to repeal the so-called 'Bedroom Tax'.

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moor View says her party's pledge, if elected, to scrap the government's removal of the 'spare room subsidy' will give hope to the many disabled and vulnerable people in Plymouth Moor View who she claims have been unfairly hit by "David Cameron’s cruel tax".

Labour says that the 'Bedroom Tax' hits over 400,000 disabled people nationwide. It claims that for the vast majority of those affected, there is nowhere smaller to move to, hitting vulnerable people with an average bill of £720 a year through no fault of their own. The Labour Party believe that instead of reducing the housing benefit bill, there is now a real risk the Bedroom Tax will cost more than it saves.

Ms Seabeck said: “Repealing the Bedroom Tax is absolutely the right thing to do.

“The Bedroom Tax tells you all you need to know about how out of touch David Cameron is, targeting the most vulnerable whilst handing out tax cuts to the nation’s millionaires.

“It doesn’t have to be this way.

“The next Labour Government will need to make tough choices on spending and in these tough times we won’t borrow more to pay for social security. But we can and will do things differently.”

Labour says that it would repeal the Bedroom Tax without extra borrowing. To cover the £470m cost of repealing the Bedroom Tax, funds have been earmarked from:

• reversing George Osborne’s recent tax cut for hedge funds announced in Budget 2013;
• reversing George Osborne’s shares for rights scheme which has been rejected by businesses, has opened up a tax loophole and will lead to £1bn being lost to the Exchequer according to the Office for Budget Responsibility; and
• tackling disguised employment in the construction industry.

Ms Seabeck said: “I think most ordinary people will think Labour’s plans to repeal the Bedroom Tax are sensible and fair.

“The tax cuts for hedge funds introduced earlier this year cannot be a priority when disabled people are being plunged into debt. The Bedroom Tax is a cruel and unfair policy that hits the vulnerable. That is just not the kind of Britain most people in Plymouth want to live in.”

But the government insists that the decision to remove the 'spare room subsidy' is fair and necessary. A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said:

“The removal of the spare-room subsidy is a necessary reform to return fairness to housing benefit. Even after the reform we pay over 80 per cent of most claimants’ housing benefit – but the taxpayer can no longer afford to pay for people to live in properties larger than they need. It is right that people contribute to these costs, just as private renters do.”

For more information on the 'Bedroom Tax', click here.