Leeds North West Labour exposed as misleading voters once again – this time over ‘bedroom tax’ vote

The Leeds North West Labour Party have been exposed as misleading local residents over Greg Mulholland's record over the 'bedroom tax' (the under occupancy charge or spare room subsidy).

Already their candidate Alex Sobel has already been forced to apologise TWICE (see here and here) for making false statements on leaflets and has had to publish and distribute TWO apologies now, but as well as publishing these two false statements, the Labour Party have repeatedly claimed that Greg Mulholland voted for the bedroom tax - when he clearly voted against it being in the Welfare Reform Bill and has made clear since the idea for first proposed, that he has opposed it all along.

The so- called 'bedroom tax' was introduced in 2012 in the Welfare Reform Bill and there were two votes (and only two votes on the bedroom tax) and Greg Mulholland voted AGAINST the Government whip on both occasions.

Greg Mulholland has also consistently opposed the bedroom tax since then - and has voted in support of two private members' bills to scrap or reform it.

The votes on the bedroom tax in the Welfare Reform Bill

1. The first time MPs voted specifically on the bedroom tax was on 1^st February 2012. It was an amendment from the House of Lords. If passed, it would have meant that the bedroom tax would only apply if the tenant was first offered alternative suitable accommodation but refused to take it. I voted for the amendment to make clear my opposition to the bedroom tax. My name is clearly listed here as rebelling against government's plans.

1. There was then a further vote on 21^st February 2012. Again, the bedroom tax would only apply if the tenant was offered and refused alternative accommodation. However, the tenants eligible for this exemption must be either caring for a severely disabled person, takes in foster children, cares for a child under the age of one, or be a war widow. Again, I rebelled but was not on the winning side. You can see my name clearly listed again here.

These were the only two votes on the 'bedroom tax' on legislation - and Greg Mulholland rebelled - and opposed the measure - each time.

My opposition to the bedroom tax since then:

• On 14^th October 2012, the Carers Bedroom Entitlement (Social Housing Sector) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons. It sought to introduce further exemptions to the bedroom tax, for tenants who were eligible for the Carers Allowance and for households in which a person needs overnight care. Greg voted for this Bill and his name is clearly listed here. For all of Leeds North West Labour's attacks, it is noteworthy that around 80 Labour MPs did not bother voting for this Bill!

• I have on several occasions raised my opposition to and called for changes to the 'bedroom tax.'

• On 27^th February 2013, I argued again for further exemptions, for households where two partners have to sleep in separate rooms for medical reasons, where a child has a disability and needs a separate room, foster carers in between placements of children, and families where parents have separated and the children will regularly use both homes. I am on the record as saying to ministers:

"I did not support the Bill at the time. I made it clear that I could not support the policy as it stood then, and I cannot support it as it stands now."

• As Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman at the time, in March 2013, I was successful in securing exemptions from the bedroom tax for members of the Armed Forces and also for foster carers.

• In the House of Commons I am on the record as saying:

"I personally felt unable to support the under-occupancy penalty precisely because there were not the sort of exemptions that I believed should be included… I would like more exemptions and I will continue to press for them…. There must be a review, which should be done not only through the Department for Work and Pensions but in conjunction with councils up and down the country, so that we get an open and honest assessment of how the policy is affecting disabled people."

• On 11th November 2013, I tabled a parliamentary motion which was signed by 21 MPs in total. In it, I say explicitly that "the under-occupancy penalty was a mistake and should not have been introduced… it is likely to have unforeseen consequences that will be unfair to certain groups and individuals… the under-occupancy penalty is flawed and unacceptable". I also called on "the Department for Work and Pensions to conduct an urgent review of the policy and make changes… if the Department refuses to do this, the policy should be scrapped altogether."

• The Affordable Homes Bill, introduced into the Commons by my Liberal Democrat colleague Andrew George MP, had its Second Reading on 5^th September 2014. It sought to introduce new exemptions to the bedroom tax, for certain disabled people and housing benefit claimants where their landlord or local authority had not made a reasonable offer of alternative accommodation. Liberal Democrat MPs, including myself, voted overwhelmingly for the Bill, and supported by Labour MPs we defeated the Conservatives 306 votes to 231. Sadly, Conservative ministers refused to grant the funds necessary to take the Bill forward.

• Speaking in the House of Commons on 9^th March 2015, I urged Conservative ministers to stop blocking the Affordable Homes Bill and allow it to be passed. Sadly the minister was not forthcoming and the Bill remained blocked.

Labour's own bedroom tax

For all their opposition to the bedroom tax, in 2008 Labour introduced its equivalent for the private rented sector. Known as the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), it meant you would not receive housing benefit matching your property's rent, but rather based on how many lived in the house and the average rent in the area. If your home was bigger than the LHA rate you were receiving, you would have to make up the difference in rent yourself, or find a smaller home to move in to.

Labour began piloting LHA in 2002 and planned to extend it to the social housing sector. On 19th January 2004, Labour's Work and Pensions minister Malcolm Wicks was asked "for what reasons the local housing allowance applies only to the de-regulated private sector." Wicks replied, "We hope to implement a flat rate housing benefit system in the social sector."

Summary

So despite the Leeds North West Labour Party misleading local residents on my record over the bedroom tax, the facts are clear that Greg Mulholland has consistently opposed it and clearly on ALL occasions there was a vote on it during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill, voted against it.

Having tried but failed to remove the bedroom tax. I did support the Welfare Reform Bill as a whole because I supported other the majority of measures in it, including the need for an overall cap of £26,000 on what a single family can receive in benefits for being out of work. To then seek to present this as my voting "for" the bedroom tax is just not honest.

The Liberal Democrats have supported Andrew George's Affordable Homes Bill since its introduction - but despite being voted through at its second reading, the Conservatives have since blocked the Bill from getting any further. The Liberal Democrats are clear in the manifesto (page 48) that we would bring this in to end the current flawed policy.

Yet more attempts to mislead local people

The Labour Party are also cynically presenting meaningless opposition day motion votes as if they were votes to change the law. In a visual circulated on social media, entitled "My Lib Dem MP's shameful voting record", they claim I voted for or against a number of things, giving the clear impression that I either voted for them to become law or blocked them becoming law - when this is not the case. They were in reality merely poorly worded Labour motions that had no bearing on changing the law. More information responding to that poor graphic can be found here.

It seems clear that this misleading campaigning is an attempt to cover up the Labour candidates' shameful voting record on Leeds City Council. Alex Sobel has a record of saying one thing to local residents, but voting the other way on the Council!

• He claims to oppose the NGT Trolleybus, yet he voted FOR it on Leeds City Council.
• He tells people he believes in the living wage, yet he has TWICE voted against it being introduced for Leeds City Council employees (the Council is run by Labour).

Labour's candidate, already dubbed as 'Ed Miliband's yes-man, shocked a packed hustings audience with a lengthy and unconvincing account of why the Labour whip was so important and that he had been right to vote for the Trolleybus, despite then claiming to oppose it - and ludicrously objecting to the scheme he voted through to the Public Inquiry.

After being forced to apologise for two false statements on leaflets, is it any wonder than residents are wondering if they can believe anything that is said by the local Labour party and their candidate?

The Choice in Leeds North West

There is a clear choice for people in the Leeds North West- independent-minded Greg Mulholland, who has strongly represented the area for the last ten years and has voted against his whip many times - and Labour candidate Alex Sobel, who has never voted against his party whip on Leeds City Council and has TWICE said one thing, but voted the other way.

Greg Mulholland has voted a remarkable 62 times against the Government whip since 2010, around 10% of all votes in the Parliament, far more than any other Leeds MP and far more than any previous MP, including Labour's Harold Best. Greg voted against the bedroom tax, tuition fees and the Health & Social Care Act,

Greg Mulholland is also the only backbench MP in recent history to mastermind a Government defeat on a legislative vote when he did so in November last year. As Public Affairs magazine stated, "Greg Mulholland is in the company of a group of MPs in this Parliament who have made a considerable impact from the backbenches".

By contrast, Alex Sobel has never defied his party whip and has made little impact as a Councillor in Moortown - with many locals there complaining that he is not around in the ward as he is always in Leeds North West.

The polls clearly show a race between Greg Mulholland and Labour, so many residents are making their decision on Leeds North West on the stark difference between the two candidates - and are saying that they want an MP who will put the area before politics and that they want an MP they can trust!