Post by nickd on Jan 23, 2012 21:51:50 GMT 1
Another defeat in the House of Lords as peers vote with a conscience
Tonight's victorious win on the amendment vote will have government in a spin over its moral standing.
Tonight government lost an important attack on the morality of its welfare reforms. Church of England bishops tabled an amendment to government's plans to impose a benefit cap; - the vote was carried, meaning that Government lost by 252 votes to 237. Despite how government will play it down, this is a major defeat for government. It brings into play the whole question of how Government's welfare reforms are being savagely attacked in the House of Lords by those who vote with a conscience.
Earlier in the day David Cameron was saying how important it was to make sure the welfare reform bill remains intact; - this is yet another defeat which will cause Government great concern. He made a particular point over how unfair it was to have benefit claimants living in expensive rented accommodation in London.
A key quote came from Lib Dem peer Baroness Hussein-Ece who told the the Lords that the price of social housing had "shot up" in many parts of London, thanks to much of it having been sold off and managed by the private sector. She said that areas of central London had extremes of wealth, and suggested that forcing families out of their homes would create "ghettos" similar to those seen in the outlying areas of Paris.
Mylegal view
Government is increasingly exposing itself as promoting a form of unsavoury predatory capitalism; it's rife in the City of London as it becomes clearer that Government's cap on benefits are all about promoting social mobility of a particularly savage kind.
This is an agenda which Government hopes will see the less well off leave London; - leaving all the more space for an influx of high earning wealth creators out for a big fat profit.
Government will almost certainly seek to reverse the damage in the House of Commons.
More.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/23/welfare-reform-labour-house-of-lords-benefits_n_1223715.html
BBC article over 'whether the poor have a right to live in expensive areas'..
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11674864