Labour plans to force a parliamentary vote on the bedroom tax in the autumn, following the Liberal Democrat’s U-turn on the policy last week.
Inside Housing says:
Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said the Lib Dem change in policy would be ‘meaningless’ if they refused to help Labour scrap it.
Last Thursday, Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury, said the party had ‘reviewed its position’ and now believed only those who turn down a suitable offer of an alternative home should have their benefits reduced.
The Lib Dems had voted against a similar amendment to the bill, proposed by the House of Lords, when the policy was originally going through parliament.
And Labour immediately signalled an intention to put the Lib Dem opposition to the policy to the test, promising to force a vote when the House of Commons returns after the summer recess.
Ms Reeves told the Sunday People: ‘The Lib Dems have a simple choice to make. They could do the right thing and vote with Labour.
‘Or they can vote with their Tory friends to keep the cruel and unfair bedroom tax in place.’
The vote will be to scrap the policy, rather than amend it as suggested by Mr Alexander. Inside Housing exclusively revealed in March that the Lib Dems planned to suggest a reform of the controversial policy.