Government dismisses 'Marxist' UN housing report

A United Nations report on UK housing, which calls for the suspension of the bedroom tax, has been attacked by the government, The Guardian reports.

The report, by the UN's special investigator on housing Raquel Rolnik, argues that the bedroom tax had left many people 'tremendous despair'. The claims were attacked by housing minister Kris Hopkins:

'This partisan report is completely discredited, and it is disappointing that the United Nations has allowed itself to be associated with a misleading Marxist diatribe.'

Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps dismissed Ms Rolnik as 'a woman from Brazil'.

The Guardian also reports on calls by the architect Richard Rogers for a 'severe' new tax on empty homes. Lord Rogers said:

'Houses should be used if we want to live in a humanistic society. Housing is not just a private matter, it affects the quality of public domain, which we all need and which gives us security. Instead, this is seeing housing as if it were gold bullion.'