​Alan Wylie tells how his anger at the injustice of the bedroom tax propelled him to the forefront of a campaign for its abolition

The No2BedroomTax Campaign is tenant-led and has been successful in protecting tenants in Scotland from the bedroom tax.

It was created by myself, my brother Chris, and my friends Jim Buntin and Jaki Cathanthe. None of us had political experience, which was both an advantage and a negative.

The bedroom tax ignited a raging fire inside me. The blatant injustice of this enraged me in a way that I have never felt before. I was adamant that the tax was fundamentally wrong and that we should work together, on a non-party basis, to fight this heinous and vindictive policy.

It didn’t affect me directly but it did affect my family and my friends. Out of all my family and friends, I was the only one who was in a position to take a stand. It seemed that nobody else was putting their head above the parapet so it was left to me – a tenant with a big gob.

The blatant injustice of this enraged me in a way that I have never felt before

Alan Wylie, No2BedroomTax Campaign

I had no political experience and am relatively shy by nature. One minute I was doing my own thing and the next I was speaking in front of thousands. I was so far out with my comfort zone that it felt completely surreal.

Ultimately, I knew I was right – the bedroom tax is an outrageous policy which Scotland would reject. That didn’t mean I wasn’t nearly paralysed with fear when taking on roles that were completely unfamiliar to me. Seeing myself on TV freaked me out. My kids enjoyed it though – they thought I was famous. They even called me the “bedroom tax slayer”– which still makes me giggle.

The campaign kicked off when we organised the first protest in March 2013. We expected a few hundred to attend but instead thousands joined us.

In the spring of 2013 we embarked on a campaign of persuading local authorities to implement no eviction policies for arrears. I live in Renfrewshire, which was the first council to adopt this. As a proud Paisley Buddie, this gave me great satisfaction.

When the LibDems held their conference at the SECC, we lobbied it. We had friends within the LibDems put forward an anti-bedroom tax motion which was passed. We attacked the coalition’s vulnerable underbelly and won.

We realised that the only option that would fully mitigate the effects of the tax would be for the Scottish Government to fund the costs.

We submitted a petition in the autumn of 2013. In January 2014 I received word that the Scottish budget for 2014-15 would include funding for bedroom tax mitigation.

I was invited to the Scottish Parliament on the day of the budget. I’m not going to lie – tears of relief rolled down my face when I heard the announcement that the Scottish Government would fully mitigate against the bedroom tax.

The effects of the bedroom tax in Scotland are now over but it still has to be abolished.