[UK] Autistic son to go into care because of bedroom tax

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/be ... es-1866215

Ian Duncan Smith should take a long walk off a short cliff.

IDS and the rest of the Conservatives. I'm pretty sure if he could get away with death sentences for people who have been on benefits for a given length of time he would do it in a heartbeat.

No doubt UKIP would join the gravy train of criticism when in fact they would only accelerate this sort of class warfare.

The entire reactionary wing is despicable and rotten from top to bottom.

Oh but don't forget! Being on benefits inevitably leads to burning down houses containing several children (this was implied by our Chancellor and Prime Minister in relation to the Mick Philpott case, for anybody who doesn't follow UK politics). So that makes it OK to tar all benefit claimants including disabled people with the same brush. Right? Right?

For those of us not in the UK, could you please summarize what's happening in the cited article?

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if that was the sort of thought processes in Con-Dem cabinet meetings.

Basically the Conservative party have had this nasty bastard idea of charging taxes on bedrooms in peoples houses that arent being used as permanent bedrooms. Although my understanding is that the taxes will apply to any house with more than 2 bedrooms regardless of what purpose they are being used for.

Unfortunately what they are overlooking is that many vulnerable families require the rooms for miscellaneous purposes (example given in the link) but cannot afford to pay the extra taxes.

And WE'RE the ones lacking in empathy, apparently.

...the other consequence of this short sighted tax is that its going to force poorer families to look specifically for one or two bedroom homes. This is going to create a squeeze on the availability of modestly sized accomodation, as if the housing shortage wasn't bad enough.

Absolutely despicable. This tax will soon prove to be a complete disaster. The Tories have learnt nothing from the poll tax riots of 23 years ago. It won't be long before you see a similar uprising in London again.

The tories are nothing but a bunch of reality detached Etonian dinosaurs that are serving no one but their masters in the ranks of the blue bloods and 'the city'. They will never learn because its not politically expedient to.

No doubt it's slightly hyperbolic but the basic iniquity of the bedroom tax shouldn't be understated.

It is not anyone's job to police how many bedrooms you have in your home. I don't care about any of the rest of it, this is disgusting. I'm sorry, but this is an appalling way for any government to behave.

This is an appalling government. It is nearly as appalling as the last government, and the one before that, and the one before that...

Civil servants run our country, not the politicians.

I hope us clowns have a surprise in store tomorrow.

I'm very confused.

If Wikipedia is presenting this correctly, it's not a tax, it's a benefit reduction, and it has a clause for individuals who have caregivers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_Reform_Act_2012

What is the arguement for this particular benefit reduction? Is this some sort of way to "means-test" the benefit?

Never again should we hear from the Quiet Man.

You are correct, Agent. It is a reduction in housing benefit for people considered to have more bedrooms than needed, with children of either sex expected to share up to the age of 10 and of the same sex up to 18. For each spare room, the housing benefit will be cut by £1-20 a week. So, for a hypothetical family of 5 (mum, dad, and three kids) on housing benefit in a 4 bedroomed house, they would lose perhaps £20 a week off their housing benefit (because at least two of the children will be [probably] able to share). I'm not certain about what the rules are if you have say 3 boys, who could all share a room, since that would lead to them being expected to live in a 2 bedroomed house which doesn't actually have a big enough bedroom... I suspect the social housing restrictions on overcrowding would come into play there. In another hypothetical scenario, a couple with an only child in a 3 bedroomed house... they would also be considered to have a spare bedroom.

It was called a bedroom tax by it's opponents, despite the fact that it is not actually a tax, as an attempt to gain popular opposition to it. Because apparently the facts can't be allowed top stand in the way of political scaremongering...

As far as the case in question goes... I don't know. Whatever system we use, people are going to fall through the cracks; the trick is to make sure people have some leeway to use their own judgement as to whether there's a good reason for not deducting the housing benefit. As I've said before, you can't legislate based on emotion, and you can't see all the other ways things could turn out.

I read about this in the Manchester Evening News. It is terrible if things like this happen and it shows the conservatives to be the nasty lot they are and the lib democrats as the weak pathetic non party they are.