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8 Times Nick Clegg Defended The Bedroom Tax, Before He Finally Opposed It

8 Times Clegg Defended The Bedroom Tax...Before He Finally Opposed It
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By 

Business reporter, Huffington Post UK

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Nick Clegg has moved to distance the Lib Dems from the bedroom tax, in a major U-turn over the party's support for the unpopular welfare reform.

After an internal government review found that 60% of households hit by the tax were in arrears due to the cut in housing benefit, the Lib Dem leader told LBC radio that "when something isn't working in the way we hoped, we should fix it".

See also: Lib Dems Dramatic U-Turn On Bedroom Tax, Accused Of 'Unbelievable Hypocrisy'

Although Clegg now restyles himself as a bedroom tax critic, HuffPost UK brings you eight moments he would rather you forget from when he was a fervent supporter.

8 Times Nick Clegg Defended The Bedroom Tax
13 February 2013: Clegg backed the bedroom tax to MPs(01 of06)
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Clegg was adamant about the necessity of the bedroom tax, telling Harriet Harman in the House of Commons: "The problem you cannot duck is that we have 1.8 million households in this country who are waiting to get social housing provision and we have one million bedrooms which are standing empty. That doesn't make sense to have a benefits system that continues to support this mismatch between people needing places to live and empty bedrooms. That is what we are trying to address and as with so many things in the reform of welfare, why is that there were no reforms of any meaningful description under Labour and now they balk at every tough decision that we must take."
26 March 2013: Clegg defended it again before MPs(02 of06)
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Asked to protect disabled people from the "disgraceful" bedroom tax by MPs, Clegg said: "The spare room subsidy is not available to thousands upon thousands of families who receive housing benefit in the private rented sector but it is available to families who receive the benefit in the social sector. Therefore, we are trying to ensure that the two systems are fair. A total of 1.8 million households are on the social housing waiting list, yet taxpayers are subsidising 1 million bedrooms that are not being used. That is what we are trying to sort out."
26 March 2013: Clegg defended it some more(03 of06)
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Asked by another MP about the impact the bedroom tax would have on a constituent who needs a wheelchair, Clegg said: "We have provided a considerable amount of extra money for discretionary housing payments. Councils, including the council of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent, have discretion to use that money and to change the way the policy is adapted in practice."
29 March 2013: Clegg defended it in Colchester(04 of06)
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When visiting Colchester, Clegg defended the bedroom tax, saying: “This is not an easy decision but we have 1.8 million households on housing waiting lists and a million bedrooms not being used. We must make sure the people who need rooms get them.”
19 November 2013: Clegg wasn't backing down(05 of06)
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Challenged by a Labour MP about the bedroom tax in the House of Commons, Clegg said: "Of course there are hard cases that deserve hard cash to ensure that people are dealt with flexibly and compassionately. That is why we have trebled the amount of discretionary housing payments available to £180 million. The principle that someone receives housing benefit in the social rented sector for the number of bedrooms and amount of space they need—just as they would in the private rented sector—was supported by the previous Government, and is supported by this one as well."
4 December 2013: Clegg was still going(06 of06)
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After being challenged by Harriet Harman again over the bedroom tax, Clegg told MPs: "For 13 years housing benefit to people in the private rented sector was provided only on the basis of the number of rooms needed. We are applying exactly that same rule, which they administered for 13 years, to those in the social rented sector. For the reasons we heard earlier, we have at the same time many, many thousands of families in overcrowded properties and 1.8 million households still on the housing waiting list. As with so many other things, we are sorting out the mess they left behind."
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