politics | UK UNCUT PROTEST FALLOUT (Reply)

Twitter Hashtag #ukuncut
Website UK Uncut

UK Uncut and Saturday’s London Protests

"It wasn't just students involved in this protest. There was a lot of people from all walks of life involved," says Laurie Penny of the New Statesman, who joins us from London to talk abut the newest round of protests led by UK Uncut. Saturday's protests saw crowds in excess of 500,000 and violent clashes with police forces.

Penny joins us from London where she has been observing the protests first-hand to talk about the protests, the media coverage, and what comes next. This segment is concluded with a piece of a new video by The Alternatives entitled "It Cuts Both Ways."

Setting the record straight: Occupying for the Alternative (full length version of Guardian piece)

The UK Uncut actions were fun and friendly and organised to work in tandem with the 'TUC March for the alternative' in order to make space for people wanting to engage in civil disobedience as their way of expressing opposition to the cuts. It was positive. It was in solidarity. We celebrate the hard work of all involved, the unions, their branches and all the individuals who built the TUC march into the huge success that it was. We were not in anyway seeking to grab headlines; we did what we always do, creative sit-down protest. We are all in this together.

At 3.30pm we gathered on Oxford Street and moved toward a new tax-dodging target: Fortnum and Mason, to stage a occupation there. Fortnum and Mason is owned by Wittington Investments Ltd, which also owns a majority stake in Associated British Foods. Wittington run a devious tax dodging scheme, stuffing money in Luxembourg and avoiding £10 million a year in tax. This money could pay the salaries of 500 nurses.MORE

Why Fortnum & Mason?

Tax scam

Fortnum & Mason is owned by Wittington Investments. Wittington Investments has a 54% stake in Associated British Foods (ABF), a multinational food corporation with revenues of some £10bn/year.

Some time between 2005 and 2008, ABF set up a holding company in Luxembourg. It then sent large sums of money - interest free - from ABF PLC and Primark (Ireland), also owned by ABF, into this holding account, from which it was sent straight back, this time with interest charges.

According to tax experts, this has meant ABF's annual tax avoidance amounts to at least £10m through offsetting interest payments on profits.

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Cuts protesters claim police tricked them into mass arrest

Campaigners for the tax-avoidance protest group UK Uncut have claimed senior police officers "tricked" them into a mass arrest after a peaceful protest inside Fortnum & Mason's in London on Saturday.

Activists say they were given repeated assurances by a chief inspector from the Metropolitan police that they would be shown to safety after the protest, which she described as non-violent and sensible. However, when protesters left the luxury Piccadilly store on police instruction, they were kettled, handcuffed and taken into custody.
Their claims are backed up by footage, obtained by the Guardian, showing that, rather than being asked to leave, the protesters inside the luxury food retailer were told they were being kept inside for their own safety.

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In all, 201 arrests were made during protests in London on Saturday, at which shops, banks and hotels were attacked by demonstrators who had broken away from the main, union-organised march down Whitehall to Hyde Park.

A total of 149 people have been charged with offences, including 138 charged with aggravated trespass in connection with the Fortnum & Mason protest.

The video also shows the officer agreeing with protesters that a breach of the peace had occurred outside the store, but not inside, and that Uncut protesters were being held inside so they did not become "wrapped up" in that disorder.MORE

Cuts protest: I'm a political prisoner now

It's a funny world we live in where people are dragged to jail cells for protesting peacefully, while one Bullingdon Club member can boast about spending a night in the cells and go on to become mayor of London. Even funnier that the police, who are also facing cuts, should reluctantly arrest protesters they apparently perceive to be peaceful. But it all boils down to one simple message from the government, summed up appropriately by a lyric from UK Uncut fans Radiohead: "This is what you get when you mess with us."

It's no coincidence that the majority of arrestees were affiliated to a movement that has gained phenomenal popular support, necessitated an investigation by the National Audit Office, and has prompted Whitehall to hold additional PR training. The government, it seems, is unfazed by protests – unless they look like they are working. I am reminded of an observation the anarchist Emma Goldman once made about democracy: "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."
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Peaceful occupation and arrest - an account of #ukuncut on #march26 by @magiczenbras Apparently she's the 15 year old referred to in the above post.

At around 6pm it was democratically decided we leave, so we all linked arms tight after being told we could leave peacefully together. We were kettled immediately. There was a lot of confusion, at first we thought they’d let us go in dribs and drabs, then we were told we’d be arrested. I was put onto a coach with 17 others and we drove around London until it was discovered Islington had 15 free cells and Camden had 2. I was first out, requiring medical attention because I had low salts. Everything was taken from me, I was stripped to my underwear, given clothes, put on constant watch because, due to anxiety, I kept absent mindedly clawing my arms and I slept when I got to my cell, still being watched. I was woken at 2am to see my appropriate adult, get my DNA taken and see a doctor (5 hours after I’d started requiring one). He gave me a sleeping pill and got them to feed me.MORE

Why I Marched, Why I Occupied

I spent the best part of the weekend in a police cell in Illford. I've been accused of taking part in a peaceful protest at Fortnum & Mason's, and charged with aggravated trespass. But being locked up for a day is nothing, nothing to the fate of those who will be hardest hit by the government's cuts and privatisation.

While out promoting the march a few weeks ago, a friend and I met two such people. Both of these people are severely physically disabled. They cannot leave their homes without help. They have a carer who comes, twice a week, and takes them in her car for a trip into town, where they do their shopping, and maybe see a friend.

But the money that pays for the carer's petrol is being withdrawn by George Osborne. She can no longer afford to take the people we met into town - can't afford to help them get out of the house. And so both expect to be left imprisoned in their own homes for much of the rest of their lives.MORE

A Major Win for UK UnCut

Amidst all the news reports bouncing back and forth right now about mass arrests and political policing, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of what we’re fighting for, and how far we’ve come as a group. Today saw the launch of a public inquiry, to be conducted by the Treasury select committee, into the issue of corporate tax avoidance.

An issue which, six months ago, didn’t even figure on the political map for many, is now taking centre stage and, one way or another, this Government will be forced to listen. What is more, the executives of some of the worst offenders – hopefully Barclays, Vodafone and Boots amongst them – will be called to answer questions before the committee about their “tax efficiency” practices. With a bit of luck, Sir Philip Green might even have to explain to his former employers why he felt that the £250m he dodged would be better spent on his lifestyle rather than schools and hospitals for the people who buy his products. MORE

A Day in teh Life ...of An Armchair Protestor

I am exhausted. I’m so tired that I can’t get out of bed right now. This is because I spent yesterday supporting the March For The Alternative and UK Uncut in any way I could from home.

My living room became a media hub. Along with my sister (@apricotmuffins on twitter) I watched multiple TV news sources, twitter, blogs, emails and news websites. To do the job we had four computers, six screens (including the 32″ TV) and phones, laptops etc. Both of us had Tweetdeck running with six columns of tweets and hashtag searches.MORE

A message for arrestees at Fortnum and Mason

You might be feeling pretty exhausted right now. Or worried. Or angry. Whatever you're feeling, it's important to know you're not alone in it. We acted as a group inside the store and we are still a group now. And an amazing group at that: a group that stood up (or sat down!) for what we know is right. A group that made decisions together, who stayed together and who left together. Who together committed to a creative act of civil disobedience, without violence or vandalism. No amount of political policing can hide these facts.
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