Yellow Tories told to scrap the bedroom tax
Around two hundred campaigners attended the protest of the Liberal Democrat Conference called by the Scottish Anti Bedroom Tax Federation in Glasgow on Saturday. Protestors basked in the glorious early autumn sunshine enjoying music provided by the Dislabelled group before an uplifting rally got underway that strongly reflected recent victories for the Federation that have left this hated benefit cut hanging by a thread in Scotland.
Philip Stott from Bin the Bedroom Dundee opened the rally by listing the concessions won from the politicians and social landlords to date:
In April the Dundee campaign forced the SNP local council to commit to a “No Eviction” policy for a year
Labour and SNP politicians have been put under mass pressure by the work of the Federation causing them to act. Labour’s shadow minister in the Scottish parliament, Jackie Ballie, has now submitted a private members bill to change legislation to stop evictions and commit to an extra £50 million for DHP.
In reponse the SNP government, having previously said there was no more money, have been forced to announce an extra £20 million for DHP this year.
The rally also heard Anne from North Lanarkshire who outlined the victory won by the local community over the threatened eviction. And that the North Lanarkshire council had been forced into adopting a No Eviction policy.
Maureen from Glenrothes highlighted the legal victory for people hit by the bedroom tax in Fife. A ruling from a QC appointed by the government to rule on bedroom tax tribunals stated that people with “spare bedrooms” of less than 50 square feet have to have the homes redesignated and that rooms of between 50 and 70 square feet can only seen as a bedroom for a child of under 10 years of age. Disabled victims of the bedroom tax also won a ruling that if they have a bedroom use to store medial and other equipment, this should also be exempt from the tax.
Campaigners from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stranraer also spoke giving a real flavour of the roots the campaign has put down all across Scotland.
Federation Chair Tommy Sheridan highlighted the hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats who profess to hold up liberal international values but implement a policy – the Bedroom Tax- that has been condemned by the UN, an institution they defend. Tommy called on the Lib Dems to withdraw support for the Bedroom Tax. Tommy echoed Philips call for social landlords to commit to firm no evictions policies that apply to all tenants.
Tommy read out a letter addressed to a Wellhouse Housing Association tenant from Easterhouse in Glasgow saying that due to arrears resulting from the Bedroom Tax, the HA would be no longer carrying out repairs and that they were to be removed from the housing list. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bedroom-tax-tenants-glasgow-catch-22-2276782
Tommy pointed out this showed that Housing Associations would be seen as foes in the battle against the Bedroom Tax unless they took the side of their poorest tenants who are facing this benefit cut.
Landlords and Tenants united ?
Later that day the “Bin the Bedroom Tax Coalition” held a rally at the Lib Dem conference of no more than 200 people. This was after they held a rally at Glasgow Green and put on coaches to the SECC, after being refused permission to march.
Many anti bedroom tax campaigners and tenants will wonder why there is another campaign at all. This grouping only appeared on the scene in August, 4 months after the bedroom tax was introduced and six months after the organised beginning of a movement against the tax began.
Moreover, it was set-up 3 months after the Scottish Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation had been established at 250-strong democratic conference at which more than 40 groups took part in. A number of trade union organisations have affiliated to the Fedeeration including Glasgow City Unison and Glasgow and Dundee Trades Councils. The BTBT group openly declares itself as bringing together “tenants and landlords” along with “grassroots campaigners”. It’s made up of the Glasgoa and West of Scotland Federation of Housing Associations (GWSF), the Scottish Tenants Organisation, the STUC and the No2bedroom tax campaign.
It order to bring together the landlords on board central demands of the anti Bedroom Tax campaign have been dropped including the call to amend the Housing Act to ensure No evictions in Scotland. In fact the Housing Associations have lobbied the SNP government to keep the right to evict tenants who fall into rent arrears.
At the BTBT rally the STUC speaker Dave Moxham praised the role of the GWSF Housing Associations in their campaign. These Housing Associations (the GWSF includes Wellhouse which Tommy Sheridan mentioned) do, in words, call for the repeal of the Bedroom Tax, but in deeds are pressuring tenants who are in arrears for payment of the Bedroom Tax.
The turnout for the Bin the Bedroom Tax Coalition event was disappointing, especially when you consider their considerable resources, which included mailing out leaflets for their event to thousands of GWSF tenants and offering them free transport. Given it was organised as a march, this contrasts poorly with the demo’s organised by the Federation. 5,000 attended the demo in Glasgow on March 30 organised through the work of the West of Scotland Federation and 2,000 attended the June 1st rally in George Square.
A key factor for this is the strategy being put forward by the Coalition and its lack of any real real presence in working class communities. In contrast the Federation and its local groups have been built through huge community meetings in housing schemes, lobbies of politicians and social landlords and demonstrations.
This reality is not lost on tenants who may have been put off a campaign that involves landlords, who are in actuality implementing the Bedroom Tax, and who, unlike some councils, have not said they will refuse to carry out evictions. It was noticible that the issue of evictions was absent from all speeches at the Coalition rally, where as in contrast the building of an anti eviction army, was a key theme throughout the Federation’s.
It’s all the more shocking to see left groups, including the remnants of the Scottish Socialist Party supporting this grouping, in opposition to the principled opposition being built to the Bedroom tax and grass roots campaigning of the Federation and the local groups.
The Federation will now be mobilising for the TUC demonstration in Manchester at the Tory party conference, the Federation national conference in Glasgow on October 5th and a mass lobby of the SNP Conference in Perth on October 19th.
The central demands of the campaign; No Evictions and for the Scottish government, councils and housing associations to come up with the £50 million a year cut from housing benefit of the poorest will continue. We won’t stop until we win a 100% victory over the bedroom tax.
