Liberal Democrat MP tells the Times she will go against her party’s stance on benefit caps

A former minister who missed a crucial vote on her government’s welfare reform act has said she will now be voting against it when MPs take to parliament to vote on the final details tomorrow (Wednesday).

Sarah Teather, MP for Brent Central, and former children’s minister, recently spoke out over the government’s controversial plans following her sacking from the cabinet in September this year branding them ‘immoral’ and ‘divisive’.

The vote tomorrow is a deferred division, where Members vote on a series of motions using ballot papers at a convenient time, currently from 12.30pm on Wednesdays.

The vote asks that the draft Benefit Cap (Housing Benefit) Regulations 2012, which was laid before the House of Commons in the summer, be approved.

It will confirm finer details to the act, including capping benefits at �500 per family and �350 per week for a single person.

Miss Teather said: “This vote is the crucial vote on legislation that actually brings in the proposals for the cap. “I made my views known in government very clearly to colleagues on this matter and I shall vote against the legislation.”

The cap will leave claimants having to make up the shortfall themselves or face being moved out of the borough by the local authority.

Last week the Times revealed that Brent Council could be forced to move families to Coventry.