Bedroom Tax Protests

Saturday 16 March 2013, sees the start of bedroom tax protests in 54 towns and cities throughout the UK. These protests have largely been organised by a group calling itself Labour Left but will also be attended by amongst others the SWP, trade unionists and greens.

Dr Eoin Clarke is a driving force behind Labour Left and his intentions are good. The protests are intended to force the government to rethink its position on penalising social housing tenants living in homes deemed too large for their needs. Ian Duncan Smith has already announced a partial climbdown by announcing foster carers and parents of teenagers in the armed forces will be exempted from the so called "under occupancy charge" or "spare room subsidy" aka the bedroom tax.

The problem I have with the bedroom tax stem from the fact these homes were allocated to tenants on the basis of enough rooms for all occupants plus one spare. The councils and housing associations rented accommodation on this basis, so it is wholly unfair to penalise the tenants now. Also families are by their nature prone to change at short notice, with members moving in and out of properties as situations arise. It is therefore quite possible for a family to be forced into smaller accommodation (assuming they can find it) only for another member to return to the fold. The resulting overcrowding can lead to tensions developing, with outbreaks of domestic violence.

And whilst I fully sympathise with the anger relating to the treatment of the disabled, singling them out and demanding concessions is not going to rectify an unfair system. My worry is when these concessions are met the fury will subside and many people will still be forced to leave their homes.

Add to this the lunacy of 721,00 homes in England alone currently laying empty. It does not take a genius to join up the dots. Shelter have an interactive map on their website showing the figures for empty homes are in your own area:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns/why_we_campaign/building_more_homes/empty_homes

By all means protest about the bedroom tax but demand it be scrapped in its entirety.