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Gemma challenges Prime Minister on Bedroom Tax
West Dunbartonshire’s MP Gemma Doyle challenged the Prime Minister directly in the House of Commons today (27th February) over the Bedroom Tax. The Government’s policy means a cut in Housing Benefit for over 2000 West Dunbartonshire households from 1st April this year.
During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons, David Cameron faced a barrage of questions on the controversial Bedroom Tax from Labour MPs, including Gemma Doyle.
The MP asked the Prime Minister why he supported an exemption to the Bedroom Tax for the families of prisoners but not for disabled people, cancer patients, foster parents or armed forces families.
It is estimated that around 2,375 households in West Dunbartonshire will lose out on an average of £12 per week under the Bedroom Tax.
Labour’s West Dunbartonshire Council is leading the way in Scotland by allocating significant additional resource in an attempt to try and mitigate the impact the shortfall in Housing Benefit will have both on tenants and on resources across the Council.
Speaking after PMQs, West Dunbartonshire MP Gemma Doyle said,
“This is a spiteful and ill thought through policy. Tenants will have their housing benefit cut even if there isn’t even a smaller home for them to move to.
“Even for this Government it is callous in the extreme to leave some of the most vulnerable people in such uncertainty about the future of their homes.
“The Prime Minister thinks that disabled people should pay the bedroom tax, but that millionaires should get a tax cut. It tells you all you need to know about where this Government’s priorities lie.”