Sandra’s Speech against the Bedroom Tax
Cumnock, August 2013
As has been said before the Bedroom Tax tells you all you need to know about this Tory led Government .David Cameron and his Government are hitting low income households and families with a measure which is unfair and unjustified.
Cameron and his cronies like to say that they are making tough choices which are for the good of the country in the long term. Well my message to the Tories and their Liberal Democrat helpers is that as far as the Bedroom Tax is concerned they are making the wrong choices, not tough choices.
Some of the facts and figures which have emerged about the bedroom tax are very worrying indeed. For example the Scottish Affairs Committee chaired by my colleague Govan MP Ian Davidson has published information showing that 105,000 households in Scotland have been affected by the Bedroom Tax . The committee has also estimated that almost 8 out of 10 of these households have at least one adult with a recognised disability. This situation will have been made even more worrying for disabled people by the recent High Court ruling where judges rejected arguments that the tax discriminated against disabled people.
Let me say quite clearly that I utterly condemn this ruling as it puts many disabled people and their families at risk of homelessness. I understand that consideration is being given by some lawyers to appealing this decision and as your local MP I will be doing everything I can to support any attempts to overturn this cruel and illogical decision.
The case against the Bedroom Tax builds up on daily basis. However, don’t just take my word for it . A range of organisations across Scotland have been scathing about a Tax which is seen by many as on par with the hated Poll Tax of a few years ago.
For example Oxfam, Citizens Advice Scotland and the Scotttish Federation of Housing Associations have all made scathing attacks on the unfairness and injustice of the Bedroom Tax.
Recently the Homelessness charity Shelter said in a statement, and I quote :
“As a charity that works to help people avoid homelessness we are extremely concerned that these penalties for so called under occupation could force vulnerable people into a spiral of debt and out of the family home.”
I also want to make some points about the local impact of the Bedroom Tax.
In June of this year East Ayrshire Council’s Finance Director, Alex McPhee, told the Local Government and Regeneration Committee of the Scottish Parliament that rent arrears in East Ayrshire had increased threefold since the Bedroom Tax had been introduced. He also told the committee that there are 2300 individuals living in Council Houses in East Ayrshire who have been affected by the tax.
In the last few days I have received figures from East Ayrshire Council which indicate that 196 people in the Cumnock area have suffered a 14 per cent reduction in their Housing Benefit since the Bedroom Tax was introduced. The figures also show that a further 20 people in the Cumnock area have suffered a staggering 20 per cent reduction in Housing Benefit due to the Bedroom Tax.
These figures show that the Bedroom Tax is having a dreadful impact on low income households both at a local and national level. I should also say at this point that I am very worried about the cost of living generally for my constituents.
Many constituents I speak to list the cost of living as their major concern. Polling by YouGov suggests that over the past year around half the people they survey consistently say that they think family finances will get worse over the next year. It seems that for many people even to afford the weekly shopping is now a regular headache.
Too many people across the country and in my constituency are now having conversations about what they have to cut this week to survive next week. At worst some families are having to turn to foodbanks to feed themselves or their children. While I am grateful to the volunteers who run foodbanks, they should not have to organise them in the first place.
It is time this Tory led Government gave some priority to the country’s real problems rather than giving tax cuts to millionaires.
Let me finish my contribution by making some points about how we can continue the struggle against the Bedroom Tax and other Tory led Government attacks on people’s living standards.
First I will continue to support local campaigns against the Bedroom Tax, and I congratulate the local campaign group on all the work they are doing.
Second as your local MP I will continue raising questions in Parliament and elsewhere in opposition to the Bedroom Tax and other Tory led attacks on living standards.
Third I am proud to be a member of Unite the Trade Union, which is the biggest union in the country. In recent times Unite has introduced a new category of membership called Community Membership which means that unemployed people and people involved on a voluntary basis in community groups or campaigns can become members of the union.
I think this is a very exciting and worthwhile development and gives community campaigns an opportunity to link in with a massive union and get support by way of advice and resources to support their campaigns.
If there is an interest in exploring this possibility by the organisers of the meeting tonight please make contact with my office and my staff will be happy to point you in the right direction.
Thanks again for the invite to address the meeting tonight and please be assured that as your local MP I remain by your side and on your side in defending my constituents against cruel and inhumane policies such as the Bedroom Tax.
Cumnock, August 2013
As has been said before the Bedroom Tax tells you all you need to know about this Tory led Government .David Cameron and his Government are hitting low income households and families with a measure which is unfair and unjustified.
Cameron and his cronies like to say that they are making tough choices which are for the good of the country in the long term. Well my message to the Tories and their Liberal Democrat helpers is that as far as the Bedroom Tax is concerned they are making the wrong choices, not tough choices.
Some of the facts and figures which have emerged about the bedroom tax are very worrying indeed. For example the Scottish Affairs Committee chaired by my colleague Govan MP Ian Davidson has published information showing that 105,000 households in Scotland have been affected by the Bedroom Tax . The committee has also estimated that almost 8 out of 10 of these households have at least one adult with a recognised disability. This situation will have been made even more worrying for disabled people by the recent High Court ruling where judges rejected arguments that the tax discriminated against disabled people.
Let me say quite clearly that I utterly condemn this ruling as it puts many disabled people and their families at risk of homelessness. I understand that consideration is being given by some lawyers to appealing this decision and as your local MP I will be doing everything I can to support any attempts to overturn this cruel and illogical decision.
The case against the Bedroom Tax builds up on daily basis. However, don’t just take my word for it . A range of organisations across Scotland have been scathing about a Tax which is seen by many as on par with the hated Poll Tax of a few years ago.
For example Oxfam, Citizens Advice Scotland and the Scotttish Federation of Housing Associations have all made scathing attacks on the unfairness and injustice of the Bedroom Tax.
Recently the Homelessness charity Shelter said in a statement, and I quote :
“As a charity that works to help people avoid homelessness we are extremely concerned that these penalties for so called under occupation could force vulnerable people into a spiral of debt and out of the family home.”
I also want to make some points about the local impact of the Bedroom Tax.
In June of this year East Ayrshire Council’s Finance Director, Alex McPhee, told the Local Government and Regeneration Committee of the Scottish Parliament that rent arrears in East Ayrshire had increased threefold since the Bedroom Tax had been introduced. He also told the committee that there are 2300 individuals living in Council Houses in East Ayrshire who have been affected by the tax.
In the last few days I have received figures from East Ayrshire Council which indicate that 196 people in the Cumnock area have suffered a 14 per cent reduction in their Housing Benefit since the Bedroom Tax was introduced. The figures also show that a further 20 people in the Cumnock area have suffered a staggering 20 per cent reduction in Housing Benefit due to the Bedroom Tax.
These figures show that the Bedroom Tax is having a dreadful impact on low income households both at a local and national level. I should also say at this point that I am very worried about the cost of living generally for my constituents.
Many constituents I speak to list the cost of living as their major concern. Polling by YouGov suggests that over the past year around half the people they survey consistently say that they think family finances will get worse over the next year. It seems that for many people even to afford the weekly shopping is now a regular headache.
Too many people across the country and in my constituency are now having conversations about what they have to cut this week to survive next week. At worst some families are having to turn to foodbanks to feed themselves or their children. While I am grateful to the volunteers who run foodbanks, they should not have to organise them in the first place.
It is time this Tory led Government gave some priority to the country’s real problems rather than giving tax cuts to millionaires.
Let me finish my contribution by making some points about how we can continue the struggle against the Bedroom Tax and other Tory led Government attacks on people’s living standards.
First I will continue to support local campaigns against the Bedroom Tax, and I congratulate the local campaign group on all the work they are doing.
Second as your local MP I will continue raising questions in Parliament and elsewhere in opposition to the Bedroom Tax and other Tory led attacks on living standards.
Third I am proud to be a member of Unite the Trade Union, which is the biggest union in the country. In recent times Unite has introduced a new category of membership called Community Membership which means that unemployed people and people involved on a voluntary basis in community groups or campaigns can become members of the union.
I think this is a very exciting and worthwhile development and gives community campaigns an opportunity to link in with a massive union and get support by way of advice and resources to support their campaigns.
If there is an interest in exploring this possibility by the organisers of the meeting tonight please make contact with my office and my staff will be happy to point you in the right direction.
Thanks again for the invite to address the meeting tonight and please be assured that as your local MP I remain by your side and on your side in defending my constituents against cruel and inhumane policies such as the Bedroom Tax.