IN A vote on a Bill calling for major exemptions to the Bedroom Tax, Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson voted to keep the current policy.

But with Labour promising to repeal the tax, the Government was defeated, as Lib Dem and even some Tory MPs jumped ship.

Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Pendle, Azhar Ali, has slammed Nr Stephenson’s decision. He said: Andrew Stephenson continues to let down his constituents by supporting this failed legislation, which hits some of the most vulnerable in our community.

“His dogged devotion to the Tory Party line will keep him in favour down in Westminster, but will win him few friends in Pendle, where hundreds of people have been caught by this tax.”

“The Department of Work and Pension’s own analysis of the policy in July showed that it wasn’t working, with only 4.5 per cent of tenants being able to move into a smaller home, and thousands being forced into ‘heat or eat’ financial hardship.”