Ed Miliband confirms: “We’ll scrap the bedroom tax”

As anticipated by a shift in the party’s rhetoric in recent weeks, Ed Miliband will confirm tomorrow at an event in Brighton that Labour would abolish the Bedroom Tax if Labour wins the next election – and that he and Ed Balls have already set aside the money to do it by:

• Reversing George Osborne’s £150 million tax cut for hedge funds announced in Budget 2013.
• Scrapping the “shares for rights” scheme which the party says has been rejected by businesses and has opened up a tax loophole of up to £1 billion. 
• Tackling tax scams in the construction industry which is costing £500million in lost revenue.

Miliband will say tomorrow that the Bedroom Tax has become a symbol of an out of touch government standing up only for the interests of a privileged few – and that two-thirds of the 660,000 people affected are disabled. He will say:

“We’ll scrap the bedroom tax by abolishing the shady schemes of tax loopholes for the privileged few which the Tories keep inventing. Tax cuts for hedge funds, the billion pound black hole created with a scheme for workers to sell their rights for shares, and by tackling scams which cheat the taxpayer in construction.

“That’s what a One Nation Labour government will do. That’s a party that will fight for you.” 

We understand this won’t be the last policy commitment made at the “cost of living” conference, by any means…