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| Scottish Parliament seating (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
82,500 Homes in Scotland will now not be liable for bedroom subsidy payments after Labour, Scottish National Party and Scottish Liberal Party voted to absorb cost imposed by Westminster. The Scottish Government’s annual Budget was passed with £35 million set aside to fully mitigate against the impact of the welfare reform which affects almost 82,500 Scottish households. It means no Scot can now face eviction from their home over the “tax”, which sees cuts in housing benefits for those considered to have a spare bedroom. Finance Secretary, Mr Swinney’s Budget was passed by 108 votes to 15 with only the Tories voting against. It also confirms another year of the council tax freeze, support for free university tuition, free prescriptions and free personal care. Alex Salmond's ministers repeatedly cite it and other welfare cuts as clear evidence that Tory-led governments in London are introducing damaging policies alien to Scotlands liberal ethos. Swinney told Holyrood that the bedroom tax would be abolished after independence, stating "Our actions on the bedroom tax shows the values and priorities that matter in this parliament [as] when Westminster targets the most vulnerable as part of its austerity drive, we will do all we can to protect them" This comes soon after the UN's special investigator Raquel Rolnik announced she wanted the UK government to scrap the bedroom tax. She was denounced by the Tory party chair Grant Shapps as "that woman from Brazil". Fellow Tory MP Stuart Jackson weighed in with the classy jibe: "Loopy Brazilian Leftie".with housing minister Kris Hopkins dismissing Rolnik's report as a "Marxist diatribe"
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