Liberal Democrats have sharply criticised their own government ministers for failing to stop the so-called bedroom tax.
Party members, gathered at the spring conference in Dundee, called on the coalition Government to defer the under-occupancy rules and reconsider its approach.
Just one Lib Dem openly backed the Government policy at the end of a debate on the emergency motion.
Former Lib Dem MSP Robert Brown, now a councillor, led the criticism, saying the change will mean a cut to people's "survival income".
He said: "I hope that conference will send the clearest of messages to the Government, to Liberal Democrat ministers, that the policy is damaging and unfair."
Another former MSP, Mike Rumbles, said he appreciates the party must make compromises in government.
"But taking an average £8 a week to encourage people to move to a smaller home is a nonsense," he said.
The policy is mean spirited, he told delegates.
The move follows the party's rejection of plans for "secret courts" in the Justice and Security Bill. That decision was made on the day Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg made his keynote speech to conference.
Edinburgh councillor Paul Edie said: "This reminds me of the secret courts debate yesterday where we had a terrific debate but we haven't had a single Member of Parliament come up to this podium to defend these proposals.
"Why is that the case? I wonder if it's because it is indefensible?"
Listening to him were Lib Dem backbenchers Malcolm Bruce and Alan Reid.
Jo Swinson, a Lib Dem minister, was among those heckled by anti-bedroom tax protesters outside the venue earlier.
Speaking during a question and answers session on business issues at the conference yesterday, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: "The bedroom tax is tough, but it is central to the welfare reforms.
"If we believe in the principle of making work pay, we need to reform the welfare system to be able to cover that.
"Now, if you've got a house that you couldn't afford if you were working, that traps you on welfare, and I think we should incentivise people out of welfare."
Mr Rennie said his party was working with housing associations to make sure people do not suffer unintended consequences, and was "sensitive" to concerns about the bedroom tax.
"There have been some changes (to the policy) this week. I am hoping that we get more changes," he said.
"But it doesn't move away from the principle that actually making work pay is a good thing.
"I have met lots of people who are really, really anxious about it, and I don't want anyone to suffer, but we need to get the right people in the right places."
The earlier vote on secret courts called for the party to commit to repealing the Act in its next general election manifesto.
But critics were warned that approach would turn MPs into hypocrites.
Only one of the party's 11 MPs in Scotland rebelled at the Bill's third reading in the Commons earlier this month. It was opposed by four party MPs across the UK.
Despite the clear opposition among activists, there was no repeat of members announcing their resignation, as happened at the spring conference in Brighton.
Among the few people voting against the motion was Jim Wallace, who is Advocate General for Scotland and a former Scottish Lib Dem leader.
Labour MP Margaret Curran, the shadow Scottish secretary, said Lib Dems are helping to carry unpopular Tory policies.
"Not a single delegate spoke in favour of the bedroom tax at the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference, but the Scottish Lib Dems around the cabinet table - Michael Moore and Danny Alexander - want to support the Tories and carry on with a policy that will punish some of the most vulnerable people in our communities," she said in a statement issued by the party.
"100,000 tenants in Scotland will be hit by the bedroom tax, 40,000 face rent arrears and thousands could be made homeless. The bedroom tax is cruel and unfair and today's vote shows even the Lib Dems know that.
"Michael Moore and Danny Alexander should listen to people across Scotland, and their own members, who want this policy reversed and do the right thing in this week's Budget."
Dr Eilidh Whiteford, an SNP MP, said: "The Lib Dem conference has descended into farce with the very welcome passage of this resolution calling for the UK Government to reconsider the bedroom tax. The Liberal Democrats in the Cabinet - including Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander - must now act on their own party motion and echo the SNP's view that this tax has to be stopped before it does huge damage.
"It is now time for Scottish Liberal Democrats to reflect that it is their party which is complicit in imposing the bedroom tax. Voting against it in a small party event in Dundee may salve their consciences, but unless they take action to reverse the policy it will do nothing else."
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