LYNNE Neagle used First Minister’s questions in the Senedd to urge the UK Tory Government not to appeal the Court of Appeal’s bedroom tax finding.

The Torfaen AM’s question was the first since the court found that that bedroom tax rules were discriminatory to the family of a disabled child in Wales and a victim of extreme domestic violence.

Ms Neagle has campaigned hard against the Bedroom Tax since proposals were first introduced.

In 2013 she led a Senedd short debate to highlight the grave consequences, when there was a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Pilot underway in Torfaen to test the effect of plans to pay the housing element of Universal Credit direct to tenants.

She said: “Last week, the Court of Appeal ruled that the UK Government’s bedroom tax amounted to unlawful discrimination following two cases, including one brought by a family from Wales with a disabled child.

“The UK Government now plans to take this matter to the Supreme Court—a decision that has been met with condemnation and disbelief.”

The latest official figures released by the DWP show that over 1,500 housing benefit claimants in Torfaen will be affected by the changes.

Ms Neagle added: “First Minister, will you raise this matter with the UK Government on behalf of all those affected in Wales by this spiteful policy, and would you agree with me that if this Tory Government had one shred of decency, they would abandon this appeal and stop persecuting disabled children, their families and all vulnerable people?”

Carwyn Jones responded to the question by stating he had written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, calling from an abandonment on the appeal.