The Liberal Democrats have withdrawn support for the so-called "bedroom tax" setting up a showdown with the Conservatives and sparking questions over credibility.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander called for fundamental changes to one of the Government's highest profile and controversial welfare reforms, which the Lib Dems had previously backed.
Mr Alexander told the Tories it was "clearly time to take stock and change our approach" on the policy.
Writing in the Daily Mirror, he called for an exemption for disabled people and for no cuts in state help for those who could not find a suitable smaller property.
Danny Alexander revealed the Lib Dem shift in a Daily Mirror article He said: "The Liberal Democrats will make the case for these new fairer rules, seeking to get them in place during this Parliament.
"If we can't convince our Conservative coalition partners, we will commit to these reforms in our 2015 manifesto."
The Liberal Democrats had not discussed their change of stance with their coalition partners and Tory sources told Sky News: "It was news to us." However, the party remains "committed" to the change.
They said the volte-face struck at the heart of the Lib Dem's credibility and added: "They say one thing and do another. They have no conviction in their beliefs."
Mr Alexander said the reform needed to be fundamentally changed The party's credibility suffered badly after it broke its 2010 manifesto pledge to vote against a rise in university tuition fees when it formed the coaltion.
Labour, which hopes to force Lib Dem ministers to commit to scrapping the policy in a fresh Commons vote, said Deputy PM Nick Clegg was guilty of "unbelievable hypocrisy" over the issue.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said: "The Lib Dems voted for the bedroom tax. There wouldn't be a bedroom tax if it wasn't for the Lib Dems. And in February when Labour tabled a bill to scrap the bedroom tax, the Lib Dems were nowhere to be seen."
Rachel Reeves said Labour will look to call a fresh vote on the policy The reform has seen social housing tenants deemed to have more bedrooms than they need have their housing benefit reduced, to offset what the Government calls a "spare room subsidy".
Mr Clegg has come under pressure to oppose the policy since his party conference voted overwhelmingly to review what activists called a "reprehensible and evil" move.
The shift came after an internal government review showed a shortage of smaller properties meant just 4.5% of tenants had been able to downsize.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
'Bedroom Tax': Lib Dems Withdraw Support
Dengan url
https://pasukanbaru.blogspot.com/2014/07/bedroom-tax-lib-dems-withdraw-support.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
'Bedroom Tax': Lib Dems Withdraw Support
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
'Bedroom Tax': Lib Dems Withdraw Support
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar