A NEW organisation to oppose the bedroom tax, headed by Tommy Sheridan, is pledging to "build an anti-evictions army of ordinary citizens" and campaign against the UK Government's welfare reforms.

The All Scotland Anti Bedroom Tax Federation was launched in Glasgow at the weekend at a meeting of activists from all over Scotland, drawn from as far afield as Stranraer and Aberdeen.

Among those at the meeting were SNP MSP Sandra White, former Socialist MSP Sheridan and Mary Lockhart, who resigned as chairwoman of the Scottish Cooperative Party last week after writing about her support for independence.

In a founding statement, the organisation said its aim was: "To build an anti-evictions army of ordinary citizens to physically oppose, resist and prevent attempted bedroom tax evictions anywhere in Scotland through all peaceful means necessary, and assemble phone trees, Facebook lists, and other social media networks that may be required to facilitate the building of such an anti-eviction army."

Mr Sheridan was elected chairman of the federation, Fiona Jordan and Angela MacCormick are vice-chairs and the secretary is Luke Ivory, who said: "This event has been a huge success. We have managed to establish a Scotland-wide, organised movement, that will campaign against the ConDem's outrageous bedroom tax.

"We now have a platform to support individuals who are subjected to this horrendous tax and will resist all attempts by any council or housing association to evict any tenants."