At the last count, 655 of you have signed our petition voicing concern about the impact of government plans to reform housing benefit.

Our campaign target was to get at least 500 people to lend their support - the amount needed to get an official government response. That figure was bypassed last Thursday but the signatures kept coming.

This was fantastic news on its own, but there was more to come. On Tuesday, the work and pensions select committee granted a second of our three demands. It announced it will hold an inquiry into planned housing benefit changes. In particular, it will look at the effect the proposals could have on levels of evictions and homelessness, overcrowding, disabled and older people and rent levels. Substantial numbers of our signatories think it will have a dreadful impact on all of the above.

Not least of these is Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock. Along with Colchester MP Bob Russell, Mr Hancock became the first Liberal Democrat MP to back our campaign.

The words he picked as he did so could hardly be stronger. ‘I did not get elected to hurt the poor,’ he said. It marks something of a read it and weep moment for his party leader, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. If this is what his own backbenchers are saying, Mr Clegg would be forgiven for being a worried man. A damaging rebellion looms large if the plans continue without significant alteration.

Despite all of this support there is no reason to pop the champagne corks. The government’s proposals remain in place. Some of the poorest in our society are facing an uncertain future that could see them torn from their communities or left in hardship.

More than 650 signatures is an impressive haul - but the petition remains open. If you haven’t yet signed up, we urge you to do so this week. Your ideas are also important. If the sector can offer a more equitable solution to reducing the housing benefit bill we stand a better chance of success.

The final word this week can fall to Mr Russell. Without change low-income families and pensioners ‘will lose their homes and be forced to move from the communities where they live’, he states. An eloquent summary of why your support remains vital.

See our campaign page for more on What’s the Benefit? or sign our petition

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