Bedroom tax breaches human rights.

I believe the defensive/aggressive response of the government and some of the media to the comments of the UN envoy says a great deal about the government frankly.

Rafts of changes to housing, public service, health - none of it evidence based, all ideologically driven.

The use of offensive language to describe someone whose opinion/findings you don't agree with seems typical of the government's culture. If children in school behaved used offensive/racist or sexist language to dismiss someone's point of view, they'd be taken to task. We have a government who seem to be propagating a bullying approach whenever they're confronted with people who disagree with policy.

I'm not putting the world to rights this morning.

But you carry on.

We are different from other countries. Value our independence more. We don't take criticism lying down.

J08, I think you need to read a bit more about it before you say any more. She has been doing this for a long time, and going to lots of countries including the US and has never had such a horrible response from a government before. She is going to complain to the UN about the government's response and I do not blame her. She was called a Brazil nut by one paper and accused of offering animal sacrifices to Marx in another. She was called a loopy Brazilian leftie masquerading as a serious UN official by a Tory MP. Apparently she asked for more meetings before she arrived but the government ignored her request. However, she did meet Eric Pickles and Don Foster, who are both involved in this.
Why was the government scared of meeting her?Why does the Tory government think it is above the UN convention on Human Rights?
Article 25 of the Declaration of Human Rights states that housing is part of the "right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family."
In my village there are flats which were purpose built in the 70s or 80s for anyone over 55. They are two bedroom flats, but the second bedroom measures 8 ft. x 5ft.
If anyone living in them is on their own and claiming housing benefit, aged 55-65, they will have to pay an extra £13+ out of their benefits.
They will also have to pay council tax for the first time.

Why sexist?! It was a woman! I would have said the same if it had been a man.

I don't think I like these "inspectors". We have our own government and opposition. And plenty of freedom of speech.

Syria was the main topic on "Question Time" and I don't recall the bedroom tax coming up. It was so boring, though, that I lost concentration. I'm almost at the point of giving up with "Question Time" because most of the panel are politicians and all the politicians these days are so predictable - they just spout the party line and, to my mind, most of the interesting comments come from the audience.

j08 "some random UN reporteuer floating around willy nilly saying the first thing that comes into her head" - what an insightful comment and not at all sexist.

Did this subject feature on Question Time last night?

You can understand the gov' s point of view. Some random UN "reporteuer" () floating around willy nilly, saying the first thing that comes into her head. And that seemingly based on hard luck stories and emotional outpourings of people she may have spent a few minutes chatting to.

They will be questioning whether such a role is really necessary on Question Time.

Apparently in Grant Shapps constituency, Welwyn Hatfield, they have already reclassified the housing stock as Leeds are doing. This presumably means fewer people are affected by the bedroom tax there. So it's okay for his constituents but not for the rest of the country.
www.insidehousing.co.uk/

J08, you need to look at the latest Guardian website to see the response to Grant Shapps.

Have a feeling I know what might be on Question Time tonight.

No, J08, I do not have any more knowledge than the minister himself. Grant Shapps has been known to lie, though.
He did here. He said that she had not seen any ministers, when even the BBC article says she had. Eric Pickles does not walk round on his own. He will be accompanied by other MPs and officials.

I do however read many websites such as I am Spartacus, False Economy,Social Investigations, and Open Democracy as well as the Guardian. I do not read Conservative Home or the Telegraph.

I would like all MPs to have to pay the spare room subsidy on every spare room in their second homes above a one bedroom flat. After all, their expenses come out of the same pot of money that housing benefit does, from the taxpayer. It will not affect them nearly as much, but it will hit them in the pocket.

I think Grant Shapps is the last person to rubbish a UN official's opinion.

Absolutely - invest in social housing and homes for people who want to downsize.

Well done Leeds council.

It's simple. We need more affordable housing/social housing. There are more people living alone than previously. The notion of serving eviction notices on people who simply can't afford to pay this bedroom tax would be laughable if it wasn't heart breaking. The economic cost I feel sure, will outweigh any saving. The costs to communities, individual and family mental health is immeasurable. Start building, revitalise the construction industry, build homes fit for families/single people/elderly/disabled/young etc etc.

We went round and round this same subject exhaustively in a previous thread. I was a badly thought-out scheme from the very start. You can't tell someone that they must leave their home for a smaller one if you don't have a smaller one for them to move into and rent, and they do not have the capital to buy one privately.

Saying that does NOT mean that there is no sympathy for familes in unsuitable accommodation, it is recognising the practical difficulties in re-organising the entire housing situation. If it were as easy as some people seem to imagine, would it not have been accomplished long ago?

Several good ideas were aired, several people mentioned useful things that were happening in some areas, and many many people said that more housing should be built for rent. I can't see the government paying a blind bit of attention to anything said on this forum, though, or ministers opening up their country houses to homeless families.

You obviously know more about it than the minister himself does Jendurham. You do sound very knowledgeable.

what does he know

Not the government?!!!

"The very long thread we had on this subject but many good suggestions were made and totally ignored, in pursuit of a personal agenda. Hmm..........."

I don't understand that post. Who dared to ignore Gransnetters' good suggestions?

Have it your own way - CBA.

Perhaps you are having memory problems Greatnan? There was very little discussion about the homeless and overcrowded, it was mainly about those with 'spare' rooms.

I am afraid that is just not true. We made many suggestions about how to ease the situation for the homeless and they were all ignored. I suggest you go back and read the thread.

Whose 'personal agenda' are you referring to Greatnan?

Perhaps I should have known that if I posted something different from other posters I would get the same old, same old, from the same old, same old.

Every time this comes up there is very little mention of families living in overcrowded accommodation which clearly shows a lack of sympathy, simple!

During interviews with council officials, who are the ones who have to deal with this government's plan, she noticed that they were struggling to cope with the fallout, not least because there was a shortage of properties for the tenants to downsize.
That is a direct result of Thatcher selling off council housing and not allowing the councils to build more council housing with their revenues.
Lots of people that she interviewed felt that their human rights had been abused by this bill, which is why she interviewed them and not Grant Shapps.

How has anybody shown a lack of sympathy for people in B & B accommodation? You don't improve the lives of one group of people by destroying the lives of another group.
I have no intention of rehashing the very long thread we had on this subject but many good suggestions were made and totally ignored, in pursuit of a personal agenda. Hmm...........