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[[Fortnum & Mason]] and their parent company, [[Wittington Investments]] were targeted during [[2011 anti-cuts protest in London| the 26 March 2011 anti-cuts protests]] for their [[Tax avoidance and tax evasion|tax avoidance policies]].<ref name="UK Uncut press release">[http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/press-release-uk-uncut-occupy-tax-dodgers-fortnum-and-mason Cuts protesters claim police tricked them into mass arrest]</ref> This took the form of a peaceful mass [[sit-in]]. The police arrested and charged 138 protesters with "aggravated trespass". A video obtained by ''The Guardian'' backed up protesters' claims that senior police officers tricked them, arresting them after assurances that they were being led to safety.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/28/cuts-protest-uk-uncut-fortnum Press release: UK Uncut Occupy Tax Dodgers Fortnum and Mason]</ref>
[[Fortnum & Mason]] and their parent company, [[Wittington Investments]] were targeted during [[2011 anti-cuts protest in London| the 26 March 2011 anti-cuts protests]] for their [[Tax avoidance and tax evasion|tax avoidance policies]].<ref name="UK Uncut press release">[http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/press-release-uk-uncut-occupy-tax-dodgers-fortnum-and-mason Cuts protesters claim police tricked them into mass arrest]</ref> This took the form of a peaceful mass [[sit-in]]. The police arrested and charged 138 protesters with "aggravated trespass". A video obtained by ''The Guardian'' backed up protesters' claims that senior police officers tricked them, arresting them after assurances that they were being led to safety.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/28/cuts-protest-uk-uncut-fortnum Press release: UK Uncut Occupy Tax Dodgers Fortnum and Mason]</ref>


Mr [[Rupert Murdoch]] was targeted by a UK Uncut member on the 19th of July 2011 during a parliamentary select committee on culture, enquiring into the allegations of phone hacking in News of The World. In a 'custard pie' style prank involving shaving foam, the assailant launched the pie at Murdoch whilst he was being interrogated by a conservative select committee member.
Mr [[Rupert Murdoch]] was targeted by a UK Uncut member on the 19th of July 2011 during a parliamentary select committee on culture, enquiring into the allegations of phone hacking in News of The World. In a 'custard pie' style prank involving shaving foam, the assailant launched the pie at Murdoch whilst he was being interrogated by a conservative select committee member.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/07/murdoch-hearing-pie-during|title=Jonathan May-Bowles named as Murdoch's attacker|publisher=New Statesman|date=|accessdate=2011-7-19|}}</ref>


===Banks===
===Banks===

Revision as of 21:07, 19 July 2011

UK Uncut protest at a Vodafone shop in Glasgow on June 30, 2011.

UK Uncut is a decentralised protest group established in October 2010 to protest against tax avoidance in the UK and to raise awareness about cuts to public services.[1] It uses direct action to get its message across, often closing down high street stores that are owned by tax avoiders.[2]

The idea of UK Uncut originated in late 2010 with a group of ten activists in a North London pub who were having a discussion about the lack of resistance to the public sector cuts. Private Eye had just published an article about Vodafone avoiding tax so they organised a protest against Vodafone on Oxford Street. Protesters met at Piccadilly and successfully closed the Oxford Street Vodafone store.[3] They set up a Twitter account to publicise their protest and it became a trending topic on Twitter.

Since then the protests have grown dramatically and dozens of actions are organised all around the UK on each day of action.[4] The UK Uncut protests are known for their use of social networking and the internet to organise many protests around the country without central control. Messages concerning protests are advertised through Twitter, Facebook and other websites so that large groups of people can be mobilised very quickly.[5]

Although groups campaign under the UK Uncut name in towns and cities around the UK, each group is independent and there is no central organisation beyond the UK Uncut website, which gives details of forthcoming "actions" and reports.

Targets

Vodafone was targeted after Private Eye exposed a deal they made with HM Revenue and Customs, which substantially reduced the amount of back taxes that they had to pay. Vodafone were originally found liable for £6 billion, but negotiated the amount to be paid down to under £2 billion.[6]

Sir Philip Green and the Arcadia Group's shops including Topshop, BHS, and Burton have been targeted as the group is owned by Phillip Green's wife, who lives in Monaco where she does not have to pay income tax.[7]

Boots was targeted on 30 January 2011. Three people needed hospital treatment after police used CS spray on protesters.[8][9][10]

Fortnum & Mason and their parent company, Wittington Investments were targeted during the 26 March 2011 anti-cuts protests for their tax avoidance policies.[11] This took the form of a peaceful mass sit-in. The police arrested and charged 138 protesters with "aggravated trespass". A video obtained by The Guardian backed up protesters' claims that senior police officers tricked them, arresting them after assurances that they were being led to safety.[12]

Mr Rupert Murdoch was targeted by a UK Uncut member on the 19th of July 2011 during a parliamentary select committee on culture, enquiring into the allegations of phone hacking in News of The World. In a 'custard pie' style prank involving shaving foam, the assailant launched the pie at Murdoch whilst he was being interrogated by a conservative select committee member.[13]

Banks

Through meetings on Twitter at the end of January it was decided that the next UK Uncut targets would be the banks that had caused the financial crises and had been bailed out by the government with billions of pounds but were now paying out large bonuses again whilst the public sector was facing large financial cuts. So UK Uncut called for people to stage "bail-ins" to turn banks into things that were being threatened by the cuts.[14]

HSBC have also been accused of avoiding two billion pounds worth of tax by Private Eye magazine by using a complicated system of channeling profits through the Netherlands,[15] leading to them being targeted by UK Uncut.[16]

On 19 February 2011, Barclays was targeted. The date was arranged to coincide with their bonus announcements but it also emerged that Barclays was only paying 1% corporation tax in the UK. Barclays banks were turned into libraries, comedy clubs and leisure centres.[17]

On 26 February, a day of action was called against the Royal Bank of Scotland and their subsidiary Natwest. The protest was arranged to coincide with the banks' bonus announcements and once again protestors turned bank branches into services threatened by the cuts.[18]

Spin-offs

A similar protest group inspired by UK Uncut has formed in the USA under the name US Uncut.[19]

The protest also spread to other European countries, creating decentralized protest groups like Portugal Uncut.[20]

A group called Take VAT targeted several companies avoiding VAT by selling goods to the UK through the Channel Islands.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "UK Uncut". UK Uncut. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  2. ^ Mark Townsend (2010-12-19). "High street stores hit in day of action over corporate tax avoidance". The Observer. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  3. ^ Paul Lewis, Adam Gabbatt, Matthew Taylor and Simon Jeffery (2010-12-03). "UK Uncut protesters spied upon by undercover police". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-12-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "UK snow: effect on shoppers - Channel4 News". Channel4.com. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  5. ^ Lucy Wilkins (2010-12-18). "Tax protesters step up protest against stores". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  6. ^ "Vodafone-a-Friend at HMRC". Private Eye. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  7. ^ "UK Uncut". UK Uncut. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  8. ^ Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Paige (2011-01-30). "Police use CS spray on tax protesters". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  9. ^ "Police use CS gas on tax protesters". The Daily Telegraph. 2011-01-30. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  10. ^ "BBC News - CS spray used on UK Uncut protest". BBC News. 2011-01-30. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  11. ^ Cuts protesters claim police tricked them into mass arrest
  12. ^ Press release: UK Uncut Occupy Tax Dodgers Fortnum and Mason
  13. ^ "Jonathan May-Bowles named as Murdoch's attacker". New Statesman. Retrieved 2011-7-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  14. ^ "Targets - Banks". UK Uncut. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  15. ^ "Going Dutch". Private Eye. November 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29.
  16. ^ Daniel Boffey (2010-12-26). "UK Undressed: Bodybuilding fanatic brings chaos to Britain's high streets as ringleader of anti-tax avoidance movement". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  17. ^ "Uncut protesters target Barclays bank". The Daily Telegraph. 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  18. ^ Amelia Hill (2011-02-27). "UK Uncut turns ire on RBS as protests spread to US". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  19. ^ Matthew Taylor and Paul Lewis (2011-02-18). "UK Uncut: grassroots protests spread from Wales to Mississippi". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  20. ^ "Portugal Uncut's Blog".
  21. ^ Jonathan Paige (2011-02-10). "Take VAT plans action against companies avoiding the 20% tax". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
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