Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation claims the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) hasn’t saved as much as expected through the tax – and that it is causing misery to tens of thousands of vulnerable people.

The tax means that low-income tenants lose some housing benefit if they are deemed to have more rooms than they need. But the JRF says that while six per cent of people on housing benefit have moved to a smaller home to avoid losing out, something like 100,000 people are ‘trapped’ in larger homes, despite wanting to move.

We have said all along that this unpopular ‘tax’ is ill-conceived, and that it unnecessarily punishes some of the most vulnerable people in society, among them those with disabilities.

It leaves a particularly unpleasant taste when MPs such as culture secretary Maria Miller are allowed to get away with little more than a slap on the wrist after claiming tens of thousands of pounds in expenses they are not entitled to.

The JRF has proposed changes to the bedroom tax to reduce the hardship it causes – including allowing people with severe disabilities to have an additional bedroom.

The DWP insists the JRF has simply got its figures wrong. But we’re with the Foundation all the way on this. In fact, we’d go further. We think it is time this unfair, unnecessary, inflexible tax was scrapped outright.