No u-turn on housing benefit
David Cameron has refused to back down over capping housing benefit, despite warnings that the policy will ‘cleanse’ poor people from major cities.
The Government has announced plans that would limit housing benefit at around £400 a week for a four-bedroom home, affecting some 21,000 households.
This seems to be the biggest test for the coalition so far in implementing the lengthy process of cuts. But although the Government has said it is committed to these reforms, the PM is coming under mounting pressure from both Tory and Lib Dem colleagues to soften the blow.
Liberal Democrat deputy Leader Simon Hughes is also among those who have criticised the proposal as ‘draconian’, saying ministers will have to ‘negotiate’ to get parliamentary approval. While some Conservative backbenchers with urban constituencies have also expressed concerns.
Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant told MPs that cuts would lead to ‘cleansing’ of poor from areas with high rents, such as London, and Ed Miliband used PMQs to hit out at the Prime Minister, describing the plans as a ‘complete shambles,’ and accused him as being ‘out of touch.’
So could, Cameron come to regret being so strident on housing benefit? Would compromising now cost him and the coalition?