Eilidh Whiteford: Devastating Impact of Bedroom Tax Revealed

About Eilidh

EILIDH was born in 1969 in Aberdeen, and grew up in Macduff, Banffshire.

She was elected as Member of Parliament for Banff & Buchan in the 6th May 2010 election, following Alex Salmond who served as MP 1987-2010.

After studies in Scotland and Canada, Eilidh taught at Glasgow University for several years before moving into a public affairs role with the Scottish Carers’ Alliance, a network of carer, disability and children’s organisations working together to support people looking after elderly, sick or disabled relatives or friends at home.

In 2003 she moved to Oxfam where she worked as a policy adviser and campaigns manager for over six years in a role that took her to many parts of the world. Closer to home, Eilidh was very actively involved in the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005 and helped establish the Scottish Fair Trade Forum.

In her spare time, she enjoys music and reading.

GLASGOW HIT HARDEST - 4,064 MORE SEEKING EMERGENCY HELP
New figures can reveal the devastation of the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax - Glasgow has seen the highest number of claimants seeking emergency help of any council in the UK with 4,064 more people in the past month seeking emergency help in the form of a DHP payment, while North Lanarkshire has seen the number of claimants rise from just 37 over four months last year to 1,451 this April alone.

There has been a 338 per cent leap in the number of people applying for emergency handouts across the UK in the month since the bedroom tax was imposed.

Commenting, SNP Westminster spokesperson for Work and Pensions Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP said:

“These figures are absolutely astounding - they show the true impact of the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax just one month in.

“The Bedroom Tax is an inherently unfair policy. People on the lowest incomes are paying the price for structural problems affecting the supply of affordable housing in the south of England. The Bedroom Tax is also unworkable - instead of addressing the underlying problems, it undermines the ability of social landlords to invest in the kind of affordable housing that is so badly needed.

“The Tory/Lib Dem coalition are hitting the poorest and most disadvantaged in our society with their austerity measures, while the richest receive a cut in taxes.

“The Bedroom Tax will be imposed on Scotland despite over 90 per cent of Scottish MPs voted against it.

“In Scotland we have an opportunity to change, so that we make our own democratic decisions. To vote No in next year’s referendum would mean leaving Scotland at the mercy of the Westminster system, which on any measure is failing. With independence we have the opportunity to do things differently and better - and we will scrap the Bedroom Tax in an independent Scotland."