UK campaigners rally to axe Bedroom tax

A group of campaigners have gathered in streets of Halifax in West Yorkshire today to stage their latest protest against the British government’s so-called “Bedroom tax”.

The demonstrators gathered outside the offices of Pennine Housing, the district’s social housing landlord, calling for the government to axe the hated “Bedroom tax”, through which tenants of working age would lose their housing benefits.

Among the protesters was former Labour MP and trade unionist Alice Mahon, who branded the tax as “outrageous, cruel, and unbelievable”, adding that the poorest in the country should not be forced to pay for the mistakes of the bankers.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee also announced earlier that changes to housing benefit would hit the country’s poorest families, saying that “even small reductions can have a severe impact.”

The British government is planning to introduce the “Bed-room tax” in April.

Under the new housing benefit reform, the tenants of working age who receive housing support will lose 14 percent of their benefits if they have one spare room, and 25 percent if they have more than one.

Earlier in March, thousands of Britons rallied in 57 cities and towns across the UK in protest at changes to the country’s welfare system, including the controversial “bedroom tax”.