Local MP Sandra Osborne has welcomed the package of funding agreed in Scottish Parliament to fully mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax in Scotland. She said.
It was the Scottish Labour Party's persistence, working with campaigners across Scotland, that has forced the SNP to think again. All those involved in campaigning against the Bedroom Tax both locally and nationally can be proud that we have pushed the SNP to finally do the right thing. I also pay tribute to the advice agencies, the local authorities and housing associations who are all working so hard to help those who have been hit by the Bedroom Tax.
Labour have been very clear throughout the debate: the bedroom tax is a cruel and iniquitous policy which should never have been introduced. We voted against it and we have pledged to abolish it if elected in 2015. But for over a year we have been calling for the SNP to use its powers to act now. The almost 80,000 tenants in Scotland hit by the bedroom tax can’t afford to wait until the votes are counted in the Referendum or the General Election.
The SNP have been telling us for months that they couldn’t provide the full £50 million to fund the bedroom tax shortfall because they didn’t have the power. Last week Labour met with the Finance Secretary, John Swinney to persuade him that the Scottish Government did have the legal mechanism to enable social landlords to mitigate the full effect of the bedroom tax. A member’s bill in the name of Labour MSP Jackie Baillie was introduced, assisted by Govan Law Centre, to protect people from evictions due to bedroom tax arrears, and this continued to pile the pressure on the SNP to end the misery of the bedroom tax now.
The SNP of course wanted this to be a constitutional issue. They wanted to exploit people’s misery to deliver a positive vote in the referendum. John Swinney gave the game away when he said that he “didn’t want to let Westminster off the hook” but they were quite content to leave some of the poorest people on the hook by refusing to do anything unless they had independence.
The Budget that has now been agreed will protect tenants in the short term but we mustn't take our eye of the prize of scrapping the Bedroom Tax once and for all after Labour wins the General Election next year"
Sandra Osborne MP
It was the Scottish Labour Party's persistence, working with campaigners across Scotland, that has forced the SNP to think again. All those involved in campaigning against the Bedroom Tax both locally and nationally can be proud that we have pushed the SNP to finally do the right thing. I also pay tribute to the advice agencies, the local authorities and housing associations who are all working so hard to help those who have been hit by the Bedroom Tax.
Labour have been very clear throughout the debate: the bedroom tax is a cruel and iniquitous policy which should never have been introduced. We voted against it and we have pledged to abolish it if elected in 2015. But for over a year we have been calling for the SNP to use its powers to act now. The almost 80,000 tenants in Scotland hit by the bedroom tax can’t afford to wait until the votes are counted in the Referendum or the General Election.
The SNP have been telling us for months that they couldn’t provide the full £50 million to fund the bedroom tax shortfall because they didn’t have the power. Last week Labour met with the Finance Secretary, John Swinney to persuade him that the Scottish Government did have the legal mechanism to enable social landlords to mitigate the full effect of the bedroom tax. A member’s bill in the name of Labour MSP Jackie Baillie was introduced, assisted by Govan Law Centre, to protect people from evictions due to bedroom tax arrears, and this continued to pile the pressure on the SNP to end the misery of the bedroom tax now.
The SNP of course wanted this to be a constitutional issue. They wanted to exploit people’s misery to deliver a positive vote in the referendum. John Swinney gave the game away when he said that he “didn’t want to let Westminster off the hook” but they were quite content to leave some of the poorest people on the hook by refusing to do anything unless they had independence.
The Budget that has now been agreed will protect tenants in the short term but we mustn't take our eye of the prize of scrapping the Bedroom Tax once and for all after Labour wins the General Election next year"
Sandra Osborne MP