January 24th, from 24Dash.com
One of the chief architects of the Government’s ‘bedroom tax’ has 11 spare bedrooms of his own, it has been revealed.
Welfare minister Lord Freud, whose under occupancy rules will soon see social tenants with spare bedrooms hit with benefit cuts, owns an eight-bedroom country house in Kent that he only stays in during the weekends and holidays.
On top of the eight bedrooms that sit empty for the majority of the year, the minister’s main four-bed home in London’s Highgate is occupied only by himself and his wife, leaving another three bedrooms vacant, the Sunday People reported.
The 62-year-old’s under-occupancy regulations will see around 660,000 social tenants face losing an average of £14 a week from April.
Labour MP Jon Cruddas told the Sunday People: “The bedroom tax is one of the most abhorrent attacks yet by this government on some of the poorest people in Britain. This is rank hypocrisy and more evidence of how out of touch this Government is with normal people. How would Lord Freud feel if he was told to downsize his properties?”
Freud told 24housing magazine last year that he was having a sculpture made of two Kentish princes that were murdered in his country pile, Eastry Court, in around 665.
The mansion is one of the oldest buildings in Kent.
The Tory was flustered last week during a BBC Radio Five Live interview when he was challenged over the planned changes.
One man who will be forced to downsize his property asked where his children would sleep when they came to stay, to which the minister suggested a “pull-out bunk” or a sofa bed.
Further challenged on the outcomes of the plans by host Victoria Derbyshire, Freud kept repeating the Government’s reasons for the changes without addressing individual concerns directly.
Swindon Tenants Campaign Group 
That’s the Nasty Party for you, 19th Century Values in 21st Century Britain and just like the rich in the 19th Century they still believe the reason the poor are poor is that they are all Lazy and they resent having to give any form of support as it will just encourage them to be feckless and skivers. They are all without any conscience whatsoever. That is why they are the Nasty Party
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:I think they are having a laugh at our expense, he should downsize and sell both they are far to big, see if he likes it, he should be accountable, where does all his money come from, must be fraud somewhere, needs checking out. In fact all of people in goverment and council positions should be checked, see how they like it when the boot is on the other foot.
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Some people don’t appicate the homes they are given and abuse them,but nothing into them. Would not be able to do that in private rented propertys. Target them remove them from these properties. I have lived in my home , and made it home to a high stanard, no help from my local housing. I have spent thousands of pounds. To make a home for my children. Now being told to down grade. Hand over all my hard work of 15 years to whom. Are the government going to . Compensant and pay me for that. No just try to cost me out of my home, to start again. And even if I do agree to down size. The properties are not available to do so. So if you agree to move, and they can’t find a smaller property and you can’t afford the bedroom tax, what happens than. I don’t think you should pay the bedroom tax, exempt until a smaller property is suitable for you. Jakki
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Remember Jakki, this is the Nasty Party we are talking about, they have no interest in the likes of you and i we are seeing a sustained attack on the most vulnerable in our society all in the guise of fairness. One never sees the Rich and powerful being publicly targeted, the likes of Amazon Starbucks and others get away with dodging what is due and as usual the Nasty Party is so in love with the wealthy that they would probably never pursue these guys to the same degree as they attack the Jobless and Disabled and indeed the working poor. There is no doubt about it, we do live in a plutocracy like it or not.
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Why are we not marching to Downing Street about this? We should be on the streets demonstrating every day about this. We are just moaning and complaining, what are we actually doing.
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