A Labour Party motion which called on the Coalition Government to revise aspects of its highly controversial housing benefit reform has been defeated following a lively Commons debate.
The motion was defeated by 319 votes to 258 and the debate included discussion on the caps to Housing Benefit and another proposal to cut housing benefit by 10% for anyone who has been on Jobseeker’s Allowance for over 12 months.
During the debate, Douglas Alexander, the shadow work and pension’s secretary, made the accusation that the coalition was acting in a reckless fashion. He claimed that the plans for ill-conceived and potentially devastating cuts had caused worries in towns and cities throughout the country and he again brought up the word homelessness which is being mentioned more and more.
Iain Duncan Smith claims that it is the Labour MPs themselves who have been frightening everybody out there in the social rented sector. Mr Smith also rejected the claims that the poor would be socially cleansed in the capital because London, he pointed out, has social housing embedded in deep its heart, and this will never change. This is despite home owners in the buy-to-let sector still saying they will not reduce rents. They see having landlord insurance as much more important.
Lib Dem MP, Bob Russell, who was one to call on the coalition to think again about the proposals said “If the rent is not paid and they (poorer families) lose their home they are in law deemed to be officially homeless.
“Whatever faults there are in this country, one thing is for sure, the children of this country are not responsible. I urge the Coalition Government to think again. They are right to tackle the higher rents, but it has to be done with fairness and at the moment it’s being aimed only at the tenants and I’m particularly concerned about the children of these families.”