DWP appeals after Bedroom Tax on rape victim’s panic room is ruled unlawful and discriminatory
He laughed: Challenged over the decision to charge Bedroom Tax on a rape victim’s panic room, Iain Duncan Smith laughed. Now he is appealing against a crown court decision that his policy was wrong.
It would be remiss of This Blog to let our joy over reader Paul Rutherford’s Bedroom Tax victory swamp the other Bedroom Tax case that was won today.
It involved the rape victim whose police-installed panic room was redefined as a spare bedroom, liable for the Bedroom Tax, by Iain Duncan Smith and his Department for Work and Pensions.
Labour raised the case in Parliament in November 2014. David Cameron – wrongly, as usual – replied that money was available for cases such as this. And you know what Iain Duncan Smith did?
That’s right. The secretary of state for Work and Pensions, responsible for the policy that was attacking a victim of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, laughed at her plight.
She had become his victim.
And now he is appealing against the court decision that he was wrong to impose his unfair and prejudicial tax on this woman.
If there was any real justice, he would have been stripped of his position, for behaviour that brought the House of Commons into disrepute.
But this is Tory Britain.
The Department for Work and Pensions is trying to force a rape victim to pay the so-called “Bedroom Tax” on her police-installed panic room, it has emerged.
Ministers were told by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday that the DWP’s policy was unlawful and discriminatory – but they have now said they will challenge that ruling at the Supreme Court.
The woman, known only as “A” for her own protection and safety, is a victim of rape, assault, harassment and stalking at the hands of an ex-partner.
In response to the continued threat against her, police installed a reinforced panic room in her home, as well as other measures such as reinforced doors, alarms directly linked to the police station and a special marker on the house.
The DWP however says “A”’s panic room counts as a spare bedroom and that she must pay the charge, equal to a 14 per cent cut in her housing support.
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Didn’t need any proof – but now have it.
Total scum!
Glad Her Smith, the power junkie, has so much resources and power available to him, and his storm troopers, wasting our money chasing this no brainer other than to boost his bully boy ego. Hopefully they will send the case packing if the legal system maintains its independence and integrity…….Her Smith is a very loose cannon and in the end the Camoron will realise what damage he’s done not only to the Cons but the public at large.mostly based on his own worthless ego.
The fact that the corrupt and dishonest Duncan-Smith is appealing against this decision shows what a nasty, vindictive and rotten specimen he is.
Only IDS and fellow nazi thinking morons would laugh at the plight of a rape victim. This is another ugly excuse for his mirth. Why is he not on the list of “targeted killings”? A justifiable assassination to be sure. You may abhor murder, but how else would you describe IDS’s policies against the most vulnerable. If it’s good enough for the goose…..
… why would you want to be as bad as he is?
What other choice is there? He can’t be fired, due to his being leader, albeit briefly, and the tories may be in power for decades to come, if they continue to get their way, on the other hand there will Always be someone who will replace him!
Hi Mohandeer, the cruel, psychopathic policies of the government in recent years are really well personified in IDS but your words in this instance are dangerous (at other times I have really appreciated your comments). Hate engenders hate, it also fuels violence, that’s not going to get us anywhere!
What a vile creature he really is…his wife must be so proud of him
I echo the above remarks and would also add, I am astonished that given his clearly very poor intellect he managed to become a Government Minister.
Because it’s a Tory government and he fits in well.
It really is rubbing salt into the wound. Vile and wasting hard working taxpayer’s money and all that. Psychopaths have no empathy. They are too damaged but should be receiving specialized care and not be in positions of power.
Oh, wait, there is no longer any specialized care…