11 September 2013

What: UN investigator Raquel Rolnik says the “bedroom tax” could constitute a violation of the human right to adequate housing after hearing “shocking” accounts of how the policy was affecting disabled people during a visit to the UK. In an interview with The Guardian she says she is disturbed by the extent of unhappiness caused by the bedroom tax and struck by how heavily this policy was affecting “the most vulnerable, the most fragile, the people who are on the fringes of coping with everyday life” and how people were reporting that they would take their own lives.

Why significant: Despite the UN raising concerns about the government’s welfare reforms, ministers dismiss the report, with Conservative chair Grant Shapps condemning her comments as an “absolute disgrace” and threatening to make a complaint to the UN.