'Axe the bedroom tax!': Thousands of protesters join demonstrations against cut in benefits Police estimated that about 4,000 people marched in Scotland Crisis charity warns that the cuts will be devastating Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the UK in protest at cuts to housing benefit for those with spare bedrooms. Around 3,000 people marched on George Square in Glasgow while up to 1,000 people assembled outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, according to police estimates. The protesters insist that the new UK Government policy, dubbed the 'bedroom tax', will disproportionately affect disabled people and women, and could lead to evictions and deaths. Protestors claim the new tax will disproportionately affect disabled people and women, and could lead to evictions and deaths Protesters took to the streets in Georges Square, Glasgow, to take part in the 'Axe the bedroom tax' demonstration It will hit 660,000 households with an average loss of £14 per week, according to Crisis. The plans are aimed at those renting council housing or housing association properties and not those in private properties. The changes are an attempt to encourage those who have spare bedrooms to downsize. People took to the streets of London, Glasgow and Edinburgh to complain about the tax. Disability rights activist Susan Archibald, in Edinburgh, said: 'We have heard talk about "strivers and skivers." One person can be a striver one day and then get made redundant. Will they be a skiver the next day? That's how easy it happens.' John McArdle, from anti-disability discrimination campaign Black Triangle, said: 'Every day our campaign receives more messages from desperate people who are on the brink of suicide. This government is killing disabled people, and we must stand together and say enough is enough. Protestors gather in Trafalgar Square to protest against the policy. The majority of the protests have been organised by Labour Left think tank with others involving the SNP, Greens and SWP together with various Trades Councils and Trade Unions Angry protestors paraded through London, days before the new cut will come into effect Some hid their faces behind masks, which have been used by internet hackers. Thousands protested in Trafalgar Square as charity Crisis warned that the cuts would be devastating Protestors called Iain Duncan Smith a 'ratbag' Bill Scott, from disability campaign group Inclusion Scotland, said two-thirds of UK properties affected house a disabled person, rising to four-fifths in Scotland. 'The purpose of an equality impact assessment is to find out and then change your policy so it doesn't disproportionately impact on the vulnerable,' he said. Instead, the UK Government went ahead and implemented that policy completely unchanged. It is a disgrace that this government chose to attack disabled people. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was branded a 'ratbag' by a heckler during his visit to Edinburgh last week. The insult was adopted liberally at today's march, with protesters wearing t-shirts and waving placards with the word 'ratbag' superimposed over Mr Duncan Smith`s face. Kelly Parry, representing the National Union of Students, said: 'He is a ratbag. The cuts that are going to come in are going to disproportionately affect women. We need to fight back so that never again will the people of this country be robbed by Westminster. In a statement of support for the marchers, SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said: 'The Scottish Government has brought in mitigation measures and has made a firm commitment to scrap the policy in an independent Scotland. There is no doubt that the bedroom tax is an abhorrent policy and the level of outrage surrounding what is being imposed is entirely justified. The raft of Government welfare cuts that come into effect next week will heap misery on the UK's poorest families, a charity warned today. Queues at food banks are poised to get longer and homelessness is expected to increase, according to Crisis. Millions of homes will be hit by the combination of reforms that comes in from April, with low-paid workers, the unemployed and disabled people bearing the brunt of the cuts, it added. Hundreds of people took to Edinburgh's streets to protest against the introduction of the so-called Bedroom Tax Council tax benefit, which covers some or all of the cost of the bill for struggling families, will be replaced by a new system that will be run by English local authorities but on 10 per cent less funding. Pensioners are protected under the changes but that is expected to mean a bigger burden on poor working age adults. Crisis said it also had 'serious concerns' about the replacement of disability living allowance (DLA) with a personal independence payment (PIP), claiming the the assessment process for the new benefit will exclude many disabled people who need support. Restrictions on the uprating of a number of welfare payments will also hit millions of households, it warned. Crisis chief executive Leslie Morphy, said: 'Our poorest households face a bleak April as they struggle to budget for all these cuts coming at once. People are already cutting back on the essentials of food and heating but there is only so much they can do. The result will be misery - cold rooms, longer queues at food banks, broken families, missed rent payments and yet more people facing homelessness - devastating for those directly affected, but bad for us all.