Holyrood should be able to axe bedroom tax, says Darling

Alistair Darling has sparked a political row by calling for Holyrood to be given the power to axe the so-called bedroom tax.

The former Labour Chancellor said there was “some logic” behind devolving housing benefit to the Scottish Parliament given it already has control over policy in the area.

Housing benefit has become a huge political football since the introduction of the spare room subsidy, dubbed the bedroom tax, which cuts the amount paid to tenants if it is deemed they have extra rooms they do not need.

Labour has pledged to scrap the bedroom tax if it wins the 2015 General Election.

But Mr Darling’s intervention puts him at odds with the Tory and Lib Dem partners in the Better Together coalition who want control of housing benefit to remain in the hands of the UK Government.

Asked what extra powers he would personally like to see devolved to Holyrood, Mr Darling said: “It seems to me that there is some logic that if housing policy is devolved you look at the benefit that goes with it.”

The Edinburgh South West MP went on to say the issue of what powers Holyrood should have under devolution would not be a dominating factor in the referendum battle.

He said: “The three things that keep coming up are what currency am I going to be using, the uncertainty over Europe and am I going to better or worse off?

“People are intensely interested in what powers the Scottish Parliament might have but actually the thing that is exercising them, particularly the don’t knows, is that they see a wall of uncertainty in front of them.

“They see all these questions which nobody seems to have the answers to, and the questions are all economic.

He added: “You rarely do see someone deciding they are going to vote one way or another in a referendum because they want more devolution.

“Actually if you think about it that is not surprising as independence and devolution are chalk and cheese, they are two different things.”

Earlier this year it was reported the UK Government was considering devolving housing benefit to Holyrood but any such move is likely to be held back until spring next year.

This is when the three pro-Union parties are having their Scottish conferences and it is expected a clear picture of what alternative will be on offer in the event of a No vote will become clear.

SNP backbencher Jamie Hepburn said: “Alistair Darling is talking nonsense and he knows it his words now are as hollow as the Tories’ ‘promises’ on devolution in 1979, which were immediately reneged on.

“The fact is that the only way to guarantee scrapping the bedroom tax is with a Yes vote in the referendum.

“Labour had a golden chance to scrap the bedroom tax but a quarter of their Scottish MPs, including Anas Sarwar, failed to turn up and vote at the House of Commons and the chance was lost.”