Tenants urge minister to think again about 'bedroom tax'
A disabled woman and her partner have written to a minister urging a rethink on plans to cut benefits for tenants deemed to have spare rooms
Disabled child to lose her own room under 'bedroom tax'
The benefit cut for social housing tenants will put 'unbearable' pressure on families with a disabled child.
Foster carers hit by 'bedroom tax'
Bedrooms in some foster homes will be classified as vacant, but the government insists funding for foster carers will be protected.
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Family blame 'bedroom tax' pressure for woman's death
The family of a woman who blamed the Government for her death in a suicide note said she was struggling to cope with paying the so-called bedroom tax, the Sunday People has reported.
Stephanie Bottrill's relatives told the paper she was worried about how she would afford the £20 extra a week for the two under-occupied bedrooms in her home - money she owed because of the Government's spare room subsidy policy.
Ms Bottrill, who died on May 4, left a letter to her son Steven, which said: "Don't blame yourself for me ending my life. The only people to blame are the Government," the paper reports.
He told the newspaper: "She was fine before the bedroom tax. It was dreamt up in London, by people in offices and big houses. They have no idea the effect it has on people like my mum."
Solihull Council Labour group leader David Jamieson, who knows the family, told the newspaper: "I'm absolutely appalled this poor lady has taken her own life because she was worried about how she would pay the bedroom tax."
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UK Uncut take the tube in London protests
Hundreds of anti-cuts activists will launch a fresh campaign of civil disobedience today in protest at the Government's controversial welfare changes.
Direct action group UK Uncut said it will hold events in central London, Birmingham, Manchester and Chelmsford to bring the impact of the cuts home to "millionaire misery-makers".
The protests hope to highlight the 'bedroom tax', with protesters expected to take beds with them during the demonstrations.
The cap on benefits, being rolled out from this month, will also be attacked.
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IDS: 'This is about fairness in the system'
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said that housing benefit changes that have been introduced today are about "fairness".
In response to criticisms of the so-called 'bedroom tax', he said: "The reality is this is about getting our housing benefit back into order".
"This is about fairness. It's about fairness to those who pay vast sums of money in taxation to see that people living in subsidised accommodation who often don't use the bedrooms they've got, while others in overcrowded accommodation.... they can't get the accommodation they need.
"This is a nonsense problem that was created by the last government who didn't build enough housing and didn't manage the housing stock properly".
'Bedroom tax' protesters take to Trafalgar Square
Hundreds of people have staged a protest in Trafalgar Square against the so-called bedroom tax.
Protester explains why he thinks 'bedroom tax' is unfair
Thousands of protesters today called for the Government to axe the so-called "bedroom tax".
They are angry about changes to housing benefit which will see cuts for people with a spare room.
Protester organiser in Kidderminster Brian Ryder explains why he thinks the tax is unfair.
Hundreds protest 'bedroom tax' in Manchester
Hundreds of protestors have been in Manchester to demonstrate against the government's so- called Bedroom Tax. The measures will cut the amount of money social housing tenants get for living in properties classed as having spare bedrooms.
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'Thousands' protest against 'bedroom tax' in Glasgow
'Bedroom tax' protestors gather in Exeter
'Bedroom Tax' protests expected around Britain
A series of protests are due to take place across the country today against plans to cut benefits for social housing tenants who are considered to be living in a house which is too big for their needs.
Under the Government plans, social housing tenants deemed to have a spare bedroom stand to have their housing benefit cut from next month.
Protests against the so-called 'Bedroom Tax' are expected to take in 53 towns and cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast and Glasgow.
Protesters urge government to axe 'bedroom tax'
Thousands of protesters today called for the Government to axe the changes to housing benefits, dubbed a "bedroom tax" by campaigners.
Organisers said some 12,000 to 13,000 activists had turned out to protest across the UK against the plans, which will see benefit cuts for people with a spare room.
The protest's national organiser, Dr Eoin Clarke, said:
– Dr Eoin Clarke, National OrganiserIt punishes the disabled, single parents, carers, the terminally ill, soldiers serving on the frontline and foster parents with more than one foster child.
It is not about left and right, it is about right and wrong.
David Cameron's Government have shown that they just haven't got a clue.
The biggest marches took place in Liverpool and Manchester, with more expected in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cardiff on March 30.
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