“We knew the bedroom tax was cruel,” declared Labour’s Owen Smith, “but we now know it is illegal!”
Mr Tomlinson seemed wounded by the very suggestion. Cruel? Why, the “bedroom tax” was entirely altruistic. Think about it. If those who’d had their housing benefit cut could no longer afford their rent, and had to move out, that would free up their homes for others.
“This is a good policy,” he said stoutly, “helping the 1.7m people on the social housing waiting list… Try explaining to them why we shouldn’t make more of the accommodation available to them!”
“This is an issue of fairness!” agreed Nusrat Ghani (Con, Wealden).
“Before this reform,” added Chris Davies (Con, Brecon & Radnorshire), “820,000 spare rooms were paid for by the taxpayer – not only wasting taxpayers’ money, but also denying so many people a roof over their head!”
But, asked Liz McInnes (Lab, Heywood & Middleton), if the Government was so anxious not to waste taxpayers’ money, why was it spending taxpayers’ money appealing Wednesday’s ruling?
“Because,” explained Mr Tomlinson, “we want to make sure that those who are vulnerable get the right support!”
Labour MPs sat perplexed, as they tried to work out how the Government had managed to attack them not from the Right but from the Left. By cutting housing benefit for the poor, the Government was helping the poor. By causing people to leave their homes, the Government was helping people put a roof over their heads. By appealing the ruling that it discriminated against the vulnerable, the Government was supporting the vulnerable.
Yes, this was a tricky one.
Still, Labour MPs were sure of one thing: the “bedroom tax” was unpopular. Indeed, shouted Gareth Jones (Lab, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney), it was the most unpopular policy “since the poll tax”.
Mr Tomlinson wasn’t going to take this slur lying down. “If it was so desperately unpopular,” he snapped, “why are we in government?”
Poor man. He sounded genuinely aggrieved. Unpopular? Cruel? Illegal?
Honestly, you try to do a good deed, help people out, cut their benefits – and this is the thanks you get.
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d326fd4/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cpolitics0Cconservative0C12127310A0CHow0Ethe0Ebedroom0Etax0Eprotects0Ethe0Evulnerable0Bhtml/story01.htm