ANTI-CUTS ACTIVISTS SHUTDOWN VODAFONE FLAGSHIP STORE IN DISGUST AT £6BN TAX EVASION

65 activists have today stopped trading at Vodafone’s largest retail store on Oxford Street, London, by blockading the doorway in disgust at the HMRC’s deal with Vodafone that have allowed them to walk away from paying a tax bill thought to be worth £6bn to the public purse.

The action started at 09:30 this morning where activists gathered at The Ritz hotel near Oxford Street following rapid mobilization over the weekend via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and text messaging.

The 65 activists confronted the minor security in front of the shop to gain entry to the shop and proceeded to blockade the entrance with arm tubes and banners before the store had chance to even receive its first customer.

This comes exactly a week after George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review in which he announced that another £7bn will be cut from welfare, producing a total of £18bn of cuts from vital welfare services.

These cuts have been widely condemned by charity groups representing the most vulnerable in society, and the highly respected Institute of Fiscal Studies confirmed on Thursday last week that the coalition’s cuts will indeed hit the poorest in society the hardest.

The issue of tax evasion by corporations and the wealthy was not however even mentioned during Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review speech, despite the fact that it is estimated that the deficit to the public purse from tax evasion amounts to at least £12bn each year.

To add salt to the wound, Osborne also announced last week that large corporations in addition will be expected to contribute 4% less in tax to public services across the next four years through a reduction in corporation tax.

Activists on today’s action also note that Andy Halford is both a financial advisor to Vodafone and a corporation tax advisor to the treasury.

Under a banner that read “Pay your taxes - save our welfare state”, Jennifer Kyte said, “The cuts are not fair, we're not all in this together, and there are alternatives. Why not start by collecting - instead of writing off – the tens of billions owed in taxes by wealthy corporations?”

She continued, “The economic downturn was caused by the reckless greed of the private sector, but it is the public sector and those at the bottom that are picking up the bill. Is this their idea of the wonderful Big Society?”

Zeketa Darby said, “We will not pay for their crisis! The public need to join together and hit the streets to take concerted action to fight these cuts”

Taken from Martin Francis Brent Green Party Blog - http://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/

Captain SKA - Liar Liar

RAILWAYS WORKERS LEADER BOB CROWE CALLS FOR UNITED ACTION OVER CUTS

From Rugby Against The Cuts Blog - http://rugbyagainstthecuts.blogspot.com/

* Green Party MP Caroline Lucas also supported the motion on Trade Union Rights proposed by Labour MP John McDonnell that most of his fellow Labour colleagues refused to support that is referred to in Bob Crowe's speech.

ANTI CUTS GROUP CONCERNED AT TORY MP’s DEFENCE OF PUBLIC SPENDING CUTS

(In Picture L-R - Paul Sandison, Clive Dunkley, Martin Eversfield, Pete McLaren,
Mark Pawsey MP, Roy Sandison and Sarah Bennett)

PRESS RELEASE -

ANTI CUTS GROUP CONCERNED AT TORY MP’s DEFENCE OF PUBLIC SPENDING CUTS

A delegation from Rugby Against the Cuts lobbied Rugby Tory MP Mark Pawsey on Friday (October 22^nd) about the recently announced public spending cuts. “There was a frank exchange of views during the hour long meeting,” Rugby Against the Cuts spokespersonPete McLaren said afterwards. “Although the discussion was generally pleasant and cordial, there was little political agreement as we were expressing the anger being felt by working class people for being made to pay for a crisis they did not cause. We told him we thought those who caused the economic crisis – bankers and governments - should pay for it, whereas Mark Pawsey clearly believes that public services have to be cut to balance the books. We particularly expressed our concerns at the loss of one million jobs, and the redundancies that will inevitably follow; the 28% cut to local Council budgets; and the attacks on welfare, especially on housing and incapacity benefits.”

The group’s Trade Union Liaison Officer Roy Sandison was concerned that Mark Pawsey did not seem to understand how seriously the cuts would affect Rugby. “He could not see that there would be a massive growth in unemployment, with a predicted job loss of one million, and only180,000 jobs created in the private sector last year. He defended the Government’s insistence on targeting welfare benefits for cuts and raising rents for social housing, although we pointed out the effect this would have on those already in poverty. He also felt it was correct to get rid of the Educational Maintenance Allowance for 16 – 19 year olds, despite the effects this would have on youngsters from families on low incomes.”

“Although we did not seem to change his views, overall, the lobby was worth organizing,” Pete McLaren concluded. “Mark Pawsey listened as we outlined our fears, and said he would be happy to meet us again to monitor developments as they occur. He agreed to take up any cases arising from abuse of Health and Safety legislation, provide a list of the quangos affected by the cuts, and look at the effects proposed cuts on children’s services would have in Warwickshire. He also said he would find out the effect housing benefit cuts would have in Rugby. We remain very concerned about the way the Con-Dem Government is cutting without any apparent understanding of the effects of the cuts, but at least our MP was prepared to listen”.

END

NOTES

• Rugby Against the Cuts was set up by local trade unionists and political activists on September 22^nd. Officers were elected as above
• Rugby Against the Cuts is holding stalls in Rugby town centre to publicise its opposition to the cuts – the next one will be on October 30^th
• Rugby Against the Cuts meets on the second Thursday of every month, 7.30pm, at the Three Horse Shoes, Rugby
• Rugby Against the Cuts can be contacted on 07881 520626, atrugbyagainstthecuts@googlemail.com, or through our web site athttp://rugbyagainstthecuts.blogspot.com

Leicestershire Against the Cuts March and Rally Sat 30th October

Leicestershire Against the Cuts March and Rally Sat 30th October

Leicestershire Against the Cuts A march and rally with speakers to protest about Tory cuts in services and jobs

March and Rally against cuts and closures

Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 11:00am (set off at 12)

Victoria Park to Clock Tower

Victoria Park Granville Rd, Leicester LE1 7

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150904221612925&ref=mf

TORY B*STARDS - Paul O Grady tells it how it is over the cuts!

Government’s cuts are “reckless gamble with the future of this country”, says Caroline on Question Time

Watch Here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vjx2p#segments

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP made a powerful contribution to last night's BBC Question Time programme, in which she condemned the government spending cuts as unfair and unnecessary.

The first question from the audience was put to Caroline first.

Audience member Michael Teague asked: "Can the government really talk about fairness when it is talking about cuts that will devastate the unemployed, the sick and the poor?"

Caroline Lucas responded: "No, absolutely not. This reckless gamble with the future of this country and this economy is deeply unfair.

"And it doesn't need us to say that, we've got people like the IFS - the Institute for Fiscal Studies - and many others, who are repeatedly saying that the poorest 10% are going to be paying at least more than the average when it comes to who actually pays the price for this.

"When you see what is being done, it is an absolutely wicked targeting of the most vulnerable."

The Brighton Pavilion MP argued later in the programme: "I do not think that the best way of getting the deficit down is through cuts, and I appreciate that sounds counter-intuitive, so let me explain.

"We do need to get the deficit down, but there is every risk that if we try to do that through throwing more and more people out of work, we will simply lose their tax revenues, we will have to pay out their redundancies, we will have to pay out benefits, and actually that's going to make matters worse, that is more likely to tip us into that double-dip recession.

"George Osborne's strategy is basically to close his eyes, cross his fingers, and hope that the private sector will manage to produce the jobs that have been destroyed in the public sector."

She concluded:

"What this government should be doing is things like tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance in a serious way, not in the pitiful way they are doing at the moment, and use that money for investment, for example, in energy efficiency and renewable energies.

"This is the best way to get people back to work, it would also address the issue of climate change, getting our emissions down. There is an environmental crisis, there is an economic crisis: we can tackle them both at the same time."

Caroline Lucas's responses were greeted with applause and cheering from the studio audience.

At the end of the programme, "Caroline Lucas" was the most mentioned phrase in the UK on Twitter, and 7th most mentioned worldwide.

Caroline Lucas appeared on the panel alongside Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond; Shadow Business Secretary, John Denham; former head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt; former political editor of The Sun, George Pascoe-Watson and journalist Polly Toynbee of The Guardian.