Emma Reynolds, Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, has challenged Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove to admit that the government’s bedroom tax harms school children.Last week Gove declared that children who do not have a room of their own struggle to fulfil their full potential in the class room.

Speaking at Education Questions in Parliament on Monday, Emma asked “the Education Secretary last week said that poor children who do not have their own room to do their homework do not achieve their full potential.  What are the policy implications of that statement and can we now assume he is arguing against the bedroom tax in cabinet?”

Speaking afterwards, Emma said “Michael Gove has let the truth out. Over 4000 homes in Wolverhampton, including 1419 in my own constituency, have been hit by the bedroom tax. Yet he tried to dodge my question by talking about house building.  His refusal to condemn the bedroom tax which hits the disabled, military families, and the most vulnerable in society, even though he acknowledges it harms poorer school children, shows how out of touch this government has become. Even David Cameron looked embarrassed by his failure to answer my question.“

^{September 2013}