Lib dems propose to change - not axe - the "bedroom tax"

17 July 2014

mirror"Bedroom tax must be axed says Nick Clegg in dramatic Lib Dem U-turn" - so proclaimed the front page of the Mirror today.

But "axe" may not be the right word.

As the Mirror explained later in its piece the party says it's proposing not to get rid of the policy - which means housing benefit recipients get less money if they have a spare bedroom - but to change it.

As Danny Alexander writes, also in the Mirror:

"Our revised proposal is that new tenants in the social rented sector would receive housing benefit based on the number of rooms they need. But those already in the social rented sector would only see a reduction in benefit if they are offered a suitable smaller home and, crucially, turn it down. Disabled adults should be treated the same as disabled children, by permanently exempting them."

 

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