SIR KEIR STARMER has been challenged to commit to scrapping the “bedroom tax” should the Labour Party take power.

The Tory policy only allows housing benefit payments to cover the cost of accommodation with the minimum number of bedrooms deemed to be needed by the Department of Work and Pensions and takes no account of either local housing supply or other needs.

New figures published by the House of Commons Library show that last year, over half-a-million households were affected — 374,366 in England, 97,425 in Scotland and 32,497 in Wales.