Plenary 17/03/15
FIRST MINISTERS QUESTIONS
Bedroom Tax

Janet Finch-Saunders
First Minister, statements such as these serve little purpose other than to scaremonger, especially when there was no mention whatsoever of the valid exemptions available for those with disabilities. Sheer hypocrisy. In 2001, the Labour Government actually trialled the policy, through the under-occupation pilot scheme, and then, in 2008, went on to introduce this for private tenancies. First Minister, will you acknowledge the £830 million saved to date, and that the housing benefit bill has fallen for the first time in a decade, or do you endorse the something-for-nothing culture that significantly contributes towards the massive debts our country now faces?
 

 Carwyn Jones/The First Minister
There’s rank hypocrisy from the Tories—rank hypocrisy. They sit there claiming to represent the vulnerable—they attack the vulnerable; that much we know. How wonderful it is to hear them say, ‘We’ve reduced the housing benefit budget’. What they mean is, ‘We’ve attacked those people who need help the most’, and that’s why, of course, the bedroom tax—. And I go around, as Members of these benches will go around, and we listen to people who are affected by this bedroom tax. We see the effect it has on them, and we see that they are the people who are most affected, and most need help in society. I will not accept any lectures from the Conservative Party, when they sit there, hypocritically telling us they represent the vulnerable, when their main task is to hit the vulnerable and protect the rich. That’s why, of course, they’ve cut taxes for the richest in society.