Stockport’s Lib Dems and Tories have showed once again that they will not stand-up for local people against the damage their Coalition Government is wreaking on Stockport residents.
On Thursday 27th June, Labour councillors asked for Lib Dem and Tory councillors to join our calls for the Bedroom Tax to be scrapped. Sadly, the Coalition partners refused to support our calls.
The people of Stockport can now be in no doubt that local Lib Dems or Tories will not stand-up to their Government, even when it is implementing policies that directly hit 3,000 local people.
The Bedroom Tax is a pernicious, hateful, illogical and dangerous measure that is hitting those least able to afford it. Penalising people who are unable to move homes because there aren’t enough smaller properties is completely unfair. The majority of people affected by the Bedroom Tax are in work and two-thirds of the households affected are home to someone with a disability.
Cllr Kate Butler, Shadow Spokesperson with responsibility for Welfare Reform, commented: “As expected, Lib Dem and Tory councillors lined-up to speak on our Bedroom Tax motion on Thursday. However, they didn’t speak to castigate their Government and to support our calls for the Bedroom Tax to be repealed. Instead, they spoke to refuse to support the motion.
Everyone in Stockport should be clear that not one single Lib Dem or Tory councillor stood up to their Government and that they refused to support our calls for the Bedroom Tax to be repealed.”
3,000 local people are being hit by the Bedroom Tax, with Stockport Homes (the managers of Council housing) estimating that the average tenant is losing over £13 a week.
During the Council Meeting on 27th June, Labour Councillor Paul Moss (Reddish North ward) who moved the motion against the Bedroom Tax, said: “Losing £13 a week might not sound like a lot to some people, but for the residents that I’ve been dealing with who have been affected by the Bedroom Tax, £13 a week can be the difference between keeping their heads above the water and falling into debt.”
Stockport Labour Group will continue to fight the Bedroom Tax and call for it to be repealed by the Lib Dem and Tory Government.