Campaign launched against bedroom tax
Scots launch campaign against UK governmentâ„¢s bedroom tax
Scots launch campaign over bedroom tax
Scottish activists launch a campaign against the UK Governmentâ„¢s so called Å“bedroom tax” in the county of East Lothian, Scotland
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Scottish activists have launched a campaign against the UK Governmentâ„¢s so called Å“bedroom tax” in the county of East Lothian, Scotland.
Campaigners said the tax, which reduces housing benefit depending on the size of the rented accommodation, affects at least 800 households in East Lothian and puts them at disadvantage.
Å“We will fight to support our neighbors in East Lothian from being victimized by the imposition of the bedroom tax, simply for having a spare room in the council house that they were once allocated according to need,” said Katherine Perlo, a member of East Lothian Against the Bedroom Tax group.
Å“We do not want to see children forced to move school or people who have lived here all their lives facing eviction or sliding into poverty through no fault of their own,” Perlo added.
So far the campaign has spread through Scotlandâ„¢s capital, Edinburgh, and they intend to hit East Lothian with the facts. The activists say the cuts to housing benefit put tenants at risk of rising arrears, increased poverty and the risk of homelessness.
Under the new housing benefit reform, the tenants of working age who receive housing support will lose 14 percent of their benefits if they have one spare room, and 25 percent if they have more than one.
Earlier in March, thousands of Britons rallied in 57 cities and towns across the UK in protest at changes to the country’s welfare system, including the controversial “bedroom tax”.
GVN/MOS/HE
Republished from: Press TV