By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 09:45 EST, 26 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:53 EST, 26 September 2013 . The United Nations has moved to distance itself from the outspoken Brazilian official who attacked the government’s welfare reforms. Furious Tories branded Raquel Rolnik a ‘loopy Brazilian leftie’ after she flew into the UK to criticise the ‘bedroom tax’ changes to housing benefit. Now the UN has slapped her down, insisting she is not a member of staff and has nothing to do with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Controversy: The UN's Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, declared: 'My immediate recommendation is that the bedroom tax is abolished' Miss Rolnik’s extraordinary intervention in British politics, claiming cuts to benefits was an infringement of human rights, sparked warnings that she had undermined the impartiality of the UN. In her two-week tour Miss Rolnik, who is the UN special rapporteur on housing, repeatedly borrowed Labour’s favoured description of the policy as a bedroom tax and appeared with campaigners at protest rallies. She also suggested the idea of rent controls in the private sector, condemned the right-to-buy policy on council homes and insisted more public money should be spent on building social housing. Tory party chairman Grant Shapps wrote to Mr Ban demanding an investigation into the official’s conduct. But aides to the Secretary-General have disowned her remarks. Jane Connors, from the Officer of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, insisted Miss Rolnik was in the UK in an ‘independent capacity’ and is ‘neither accountable to nor appointed by’ Mr Ban. Disowned: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has distanced himself from Miss Rolnik's remarks . In a letter to Mr Shapps she said: ‘Ms Raquel Rolnik is one of 72 independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council - the led UN body responsible for human rights – on the basis of their expertise and independence, and following a competitive selection process. ‘As in the case of all mandate holders, Ms Rolnik serves in an independent capacity and in accordance with a Code of Conduct adopted by the Council. ‘She is not a staff member of the United Nations, is neither accountable to nor appointed by the Secretary-General, and does not receive any compensation beyond a daily allowance when engaged in mandated activities.’ Miss Rolnik is expected to submit a final report to the UN in March next year. But the slap down from Mr Ban’s officials will limit the impact of her final recommendations. Mr Shapps said: ‘People expect the UN to be neutral, yet on this occasion a former Workers Party politician came with a clear agenda.’ Ministers say the removal of the ‘spare room subsidy’ brings social housing into line with the private sector where renters do not get spare rooms for free. The change will is expected to save around £500 million every year. Tenants affected by the shake-up will face a 14 per cent cut in housing benefit for the first excess bedroom, and 25 per cent where two or more bedrooms are unused. Ministers, who estimate the average affected household will lose £14 a week, say the policy will save taxpayers £500million a year. They also say it will encourage people to move into smaller properties to relieve pressure on stock, helping families crammed into homes that are too small. During her visit Miss Rolnik revealed a shaky grasp of UK house prices by saying: ‘How many people can afford to buy a £120,000 apartment? Not many.’ MPs pointed out that in Brazil tens of millions of people are condemned to living in shanty towns, or favelas . The Brazilian, who has spent much of her five-year UN post looking at human rights violations in countries including Rwanda, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia, has decided that Britain’s housing system is ‘going backwards’. She said at the end of her visit: ‘My immediate recommendation is that the bedroom tax is abolished. 'I was very shocked to hear how many people feel abused in their human rights by this decision and why - being so vulnerable - they should pay for the cost of the economic downturn, which was brought about by the financial crisis. ‘The right to housing is not about a roof anywhere, at any cost, without any social ties. ‘It is not about reshuffling people according to a snapshot of the number of bedrooms at a given night. 'It is about enabling environments for people to maintain their family and community bonds, their local schools, work places and health services allowing them to exercise other rights, like education, work, food and health.’ The academic, brought up a Marxist, actually offered an animal sacrifice to Karl Marx . Her lengthy CV lists countless . qualifications, civic achievements, books and publications – but Raquel . Rolnik makes no mention of dabbling in witchcraft. Yet . the architect and urban planner appears to be an avid follower of . Candomble, an African-Brazilian religion that originated during the . slave trade. The academic, . brought up a Marxist, actually offered an animal sacrifice to Karl Marx . when she was studying for her Masters degree in architecture so ‘he . would leave her alone’ to study in peace. According to her elder sister . Suely, a well-known Brazilian psychoanalyst and intellectual, Raquel had . become ‘contaminated’ by other philosophies and offered the sacrifice . to appease the German revolutionary socialist. The . UN special rapporteur’s fascination with Candomble rekindled memories . of another controversial figure’s links with the religion that worships . African gods. In . 2001, Peter Mandelson was ridiculed when reports emerged that his . Brazilian partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, had engaged a Candomble . witch doctor to put a hex on political enemies in a ceremony involving . the slaughter of a chicken. It . was claimed that the Labour spin doctor – now a peer – held a live . chicken by the neck while a priest in Rio de Janeiro cut off its head, . splashing Mr Mandelson with blood. Mother-of-two . Mrs Rolnik lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, and is a . professor at the city university’s faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. Her . Polish grandfather died in the Holocaust and her parents emigrated to . Brazil. She has held various government positions, speaks six languages, . and was appointed to her UN post in 2008. In . an interview, her sister Suely gave more clues about Raquel’s . upbringing and background. She said: ‘My little sister –  who is much . younger than me – and I have always felt the same. 'I was born in Belenzinho [a . poor area of Sao Paulo], my parents are immigrants and we never tried to . hide this, we do not feel well in high class, bourgeois places. ‘She . was always brilliant academically. So she wanted to show that these . forms of housing, including tenement houses, favela housing etc, aren’t . the only solutions to poverty. She wanted to show that there were other . alternatives. ‘She lived in . communes at the time, she went to Africa, the Caribbean, Colombia, she . went to the houses of African witch doctors to find out what was the . memory of housing in Africa, during slavery. But the university didn’t . accept her thesis. ‘I greatly admire her work, her courage, the work she is doing with the UN is fantastic, she is very precocious.’ Suely said Raquel came to live with her in Paris in the 1970s and became interested in French philosophers. ‘When she went to do her Masters, she offered an ebo – an animal sacrifice – to Marx, so he would leave her in peace. ‘Because, . as well as having a Marxist formation at the university, when we were . small our parents put us in the Leftist Zionist movement. ‘Raquel had a really solid Marxist formation. So she had to give an ebo to Marx in Candomble so he would leave her alone.’
Raquel Rolnik flew into the UK to assess impact of benefits changes .
She said that so-called 'Bedroom Tax' is a breach of human rights .
Furious Tories condemned the political attack and demanded an inquiry .
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon disowns the 'independent' official .
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 09:45 EST, 26 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:53 EST, 26 September 2013 . The United Nations has moved to distance itself from the outspoken Brazilian official who attacked the government’s welfare reforms. Furious Tories branded Raquel Rolnik a ‘loopy Brazilian leftie’ after she flew into the UK to criticise the ‘bedroom tax’ changes to housing benefit. Now the UN has slapped her down, insisting she is not a member of staff and has nothing to do with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Controversy: The UN's Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, declared: 'My immediate recommendation is that the bedroom tax is abolished' Miss Rolnik’s extraordinary intervention in British politics, claiming cuts to benefits was an infringement of human rights, sparked warnings that she had undermined the impartiality of the UN. In her two-week tour Miss Rolnik, who is the UN special rapporteur on housing, repeatedly borrowed Labour’s favoured description of the policy as a bedroom tax and appeared with campaigners at protest rallies. She also suggested the idea of rent controls in the private sector, condemned the right-to-buy policy on council homes and insisted more public money should be spent on building social housing. Tory party chairman Grant Shapps wrote to Mr Ban demanding an investigation into the official’s conduct. But aides to the Secretary-General have disowned her remarks. Jane Connors, from the Officer of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, insisted Miss Rolnik was in the UK in an ‘independent capacity’ and is ‘neither accountable to nor appointed by’ Mr Ban. Disowned: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has distanced himself from Miss Rolnik's remarks . In a letter to Mr Shapps she said: ‘Ms Raquel Rolnik is one of 72 independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council - the led UN body responsible for human rights – on the basis of their expertise and independence, and following a competitive selection process. ‘As in the case of all mandate holders, Ms Rolnik serves in an independent capacity and in accordance with a Code of Conduct adopted by the Council. ‘She is not a staff member of the United Nations, is neither accountable to nor appointed by the Secretary-General, and does not receive any compensation beyond a daily allowance when engaged in mandated activities.’ Miss Rolnik is expected to submit a final report to the UN in March next year. But the slap down from Mr Ban’s officials will limit the impact of her final recommendations. Mr Shapps said: ‘People expect the UN to be neutral, yet on this occasion a former Workers Party politician came with a clear agenda.’ Ministers say the removal of the ‘spare room subsidy’ brings social housing into line with the private sector where renters do not get spare rooms for free. The change will is expected to save around £500 million every year. Tenants affected by the shake-up will face a 14 per cent cut in housing benefit for the first excess bedroom, and 25 per cent where two or more bedrooms are unused. Ministers, who estimate the average affected household will lose £14 a week, say the policy will save taxpayers £500million a year. They also say it will encourage people to move into smaller properties to relieve pressure on stock, helping families crammed into homes that are too small. During her visit Miss Rolnik revealed a shaky grasp of UK house prices by saying: ‘How many people can afford to buy a £120,000 apartment? Not many.’ MPs pointed out that in Brazil tens of millions of people are condemned to living in shanty towns, or favelas . The Brazilian, who has spent much of her five-year UN post looking at human rights violations in countries including Rwanda, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia, has decided that Britain’s housing system is ‘going backwards’. She said at the end of her visit: ‘My immediate recommendation is that the bedroom tax is abolished. 'I was very shocked to hear how many people feel abused in their human rights by this decision and why - being so vulnerable - they should pay for the cost of the economic downturn, which was brought about by the financial crisis. ‘The right to housing is not about a roof anywhere, at any cost, without any social ties. ‘It is not about reshuffling people according to a snapshot of the number of bedrooms at a given night. 'It is about enabling environments for people to maintain their family and community bonds, their local schools, work places and health services allowing them to exercise other rights, like education, work, food and health.’ The academic, brought up a Marxist, actually offered an animal sacrifice to Karl Marx . Her lengthy CV lists countless . qualifications, civic achievements, books and publications – but Raquel . Rolnik makes no mention of dabbling in witchcraft. Yet . the architect and urban planner appears to be an avid follower of . Candomble, an African-Brazilian religion that originated during the . slave trade. The academic, . brought up a Marxist, actually offered an animal sacrifice to Karl Marx . when she was studying for her Masters degree in architecture so ‘he . would leave her alone’ to study in peace. According to her elder sister . Suely, a well-known Brazilian psychoanalyst and intellectual, Raquel had . become ‘contaminated’ by other philosophies and offered the sacrifice . to appease the German revolutionary socialist. The . UN special rapporteur’s fascination with Candomble rekindled memories . of another controversial figure’s links with the religion that worships . African gods. In . 2001, Peter Mandelson was ridiculed when reports emerged that his . Brazilian partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, had engaged a Candomble . witch doctor to put a hex on political enemies in a ceremony involving . the slaughter of a chicken. It . was claimed that the Labour spin doctor – now a peer – held a live . chicken by the neck while a priest in Rio de Janeiro cut off its head, . splashing Mr Mandelson with blood. Mother-of-two . Mrs Rolnik lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, and is a . professor at the city university’s faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. Her . Polish grandfather died in the Holocaust and her parents emigrated to . Brazil. She has held various government positions, speaks six languages, . and was appointed to her UN post in 2008. In . an interview, her sister Suely gave more clues about Raquel’s . upbringing and background. She said: ‘My little sister –  who is much . younger than me – and I have always felt the same. 'I was born in Belenzinho [a . poor area of Sao Paulo], my parents are immigrants and we never tried to . hide this, we do not feel well in high class, bourgeois places. ‘She . was always brilliant academically. So she wanted to show that these . forms of housing, including tenement houses, favela housing etc, aren’t . the only solutions to poverty. She wanted to show that there were other . alternatives. ‘She lived in . communes at the time, she went to Africa, the Caribbean, Colombia, she . went to the houses of African witch doctors to find out what was the . memory of housing in Africa, during slavery. But the university didn’t . accept her thesis. ‘I greatly admire her work, her courage, the work she is doing with the UN is fantastic, she is very precocious.’ Suely said Raquel came to live with her in Paris in the 1970s and became interested in French philosophers. ‘When she went to do her Masters, she offered an ebo – an animal sacrifice – to Marx, so he would leave her in peace. ‘Because, . as well as having a Marxist formation at the university, when we were . small our parents put us in the Leftist Zionist movement. ‘Raquel had a really solid Marxist formation. So she had to give an ebo to Marx in Candomble so he would leave her alone.’
government’s welfare reforms. Furious Tories after she flew into the UK to criticise the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Controversy: The to benefits was an infringement of human rights, Disowned: United Nations Secretary General Ban Raquel Rolnik is one of 72 independent experts Raquel’s . upbringing and background. She said: