LETTER: Loyalty to party over constituents

The ‘Bedroom Tax’ at its most basic level is meant to free up under-occupied property, but the current legislation is a ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’.

The ‘Bedroom Tax’ is carried out indiscriminately, without any assessment and ends up targeting the most vulnerable people in our society. If they have a ‘spare’ room it forces the poorest to move, or lose benefits, even when there are no smaller homes to move to.

Passing the Affordable Homes Bill would not mean scrapping the ‘Bedroom Tax’, it would mean people with disabilities, or the most vulnerable who live in areas where there are no smaller properties available, will not be penalised and lose benefits.

UKIP fully support the concept of freeing up large property and making it available to families who are struggling to find homes. However, the Affordable Homes Bill makes this concept fairer, especially for the most vulnerable among us. The Affordable Homes Bill fine tunes and improves the ‘Bedroom Tax’ which is why we are surprised our Arundel & South Downs MP, Nick Herbert, voted against the Affordable Home Bill and for the, ‘sledgehammer’, inequalities of the ‘Bedroom Tax’.

It would appear Nick Herbert feels his loyalty to an out of touch David Cameron overrides compassion for the most vulnerable of his constituents.

Peter Grace

Arundel & South Downs Ukip Parliamentary Candidate

Chanctonbury, Ashington