Sunday 6 January 2013

Where's the LidDem moderating influence here?

Wales Online has a for once  a important essay on the effect of the Bedroom Tax enforced on those with Benefits.

It makes sober reading.


It is estimated 40,000 people in Wales will be hit by the changes – which will see those under-occupying a property lose part of their housing benefit.
Tighter rules on the number of bedrooms people can have will see people lose 14% of their benefit if they have one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more.
Which means that they will either have to offer a room to another person on Benefits or see a cut in their income

There is very little single bedroom social housing around ans already I have heard of people leaving social housing for smaller accommodation in the private sector.


Ironically this means that the government may end up paying more on benefit as in many areas :as it ma costs more to rent a private sector one-bedroom flat than a of our three-bedroom houses

So it won’t save money when people are forced  move to smaller housing.

The alternative of having a perfect stranger , move in to what may have well been been a your home for most of your life and Illness, disability or logf term unemployment have forced you to claim Housing benefit is chilling.

As Carol Whitcombe, 53, who is blind lives near Pontypool in a two-bedroom house. said: which sh has lived in since 1984

 “I’ve got arthritis of the spine. I’ve had hand rails all over the place and an electric shower so I can have a shower instead of a bath.
“They’ve done something to the back door, I’ve got a back porch and they’ve put a ramp instead of steps, they’ve put rails outside. I’ve got Braille on my stove. It’s more a disabled flat now.
“It’s very much my home. One of the first things he said was you can move if you want to, but I don’t want to. There aren’t any places that are one-bedroom round here.
Wales Online January 6th 2013

She's not living in a  be Mansion . Its a two bedroom house . How can anyone say that this is to big for her .

This is a cruel policy by a Coalition Government intent on attacking benefits by giving the impression that those claiming are scroungers . "When a Hard Working people  are suffering"

Highlighted  When Chancre's  George Osbourne , previously said, workers resent leaving their homes early in the morning while benefits-claiming neighbours sleep on with their curtains drawn.

As we see coverage of the cuts in Child Benefits  which will see them e removed from any family where one parent earns more than about £44,000 a year.. We see little coverage of this most appalling cut.

But the Child Benefit cuts affect that influential voting grouping "Middle England" who all the Parties see as core to winning the election..

Poorer people on benefits are not sen as core indeed these cuts are sen as popular with "Middle England " and they have little chance to voice their fears.

And with a Spineless Labour  Opposition ,who see no politica advantage  in defending those on benefits we can expect more of this return to "Victorian Values"

Perhaps Peter Black can explain why  his Liberal Democrat Party backed this . Wheres the moderating influence  on the Tories here?

How long before we see some Backbench Tory call for a new version of the Workhouse and then see it becoming mainstream?

1 comment:

Cibwr said...

How about offering incentives for people in under used homes to move? IE paying you a tax free lump sum and your moving/adaptation costs to move? Providing that there is the accommodation available - which often there isn't. Instead they introduce penalties and huge costs to people (moving is not cheap!). Not exactly helping the disadvantaged. If they are worried about the spiraling costs of housing benefits how about re introducing the fair rents act?