Anti-cuts day of action in Nottingham
Published:
December 04, 2010 23:03
by Class Worrier |
Neighbourhoods: nottingham
Saturday 4th December was a de facto day of action against cuts in Nottingham with a demonstration against tax avoiders and a student protest running into one another.
I turned up at the Market Square at 1pm for the student demonstration, by which point the demonstration against tax avoiding corporations had already been going on for an hour (although I spoke to a couple of people who had turned up for the originally advertised start time of 12 noon and been hanging around for 2 hours). The tax avoiders demo marched in, having already visited Vodafone, and presumably others.
As the assembled throng came into the Market Square, they were chanting, "They say cutback, we say pay tax," quite possibly the single least inspiring slogan I've ever come across. There was then an extended period of milling about, before people decided to march around the Market Square. With the "Victorian Market" inhibiting our ability to do a complete circuit we ended up going down Cheapside and turning left onto Clumber Street.
Inevitably, this took us past Vodafone and begun the first chant of "pay your tax," a refrain which would be repeated - ad infinitum - over the course of the march. From their we made our way down to Parliament Street and along the side of the Victoria Centre. At this point, people went into Boots (another high profile tax avoider) and began chanting, before continuing into the Viccy Centre.
Here people went into Topshop (part of the Arcadia Group owned by government adviser Philip Green, who has put the company into his wife's name so as to avoid paying tax) for some further chanting and then onto another Vodafone store. This was closed and the target of an extended period of chanting.
From here, people made their way outside and then around the Victoria Centre, back past Boots (this time closed by staff) down to the Tory Party offices for some more shouting. Then we returned to Market Square, briefly disrupting Parliament Street and again coming past Vodafone on Clumber Street.
The march ended at Byron House with a planning meeting, although protesters were informed by the police escort who had been unable to stop anything so far that anybody who kept their banners up after they left the square would have them confiscated.
This was an interesting demonstration: sizable, militant, but also confused. I was struck by the fact that very little of the chanting was led by students with other activists controling the megaphone. They perhaps can take some blame for the unimaginative, incessantly repetitive chanting. Before the next demo, somebody should invest in a new chant sheet.
To my mind what should have been a protests against education cuts and the imposition of higher fees was dominated by the demands that companies "pay your tax." As somebody who would think nothing of tax avoidance if I thought I could get away with it, I can't help feeling this misses the point and turns a useful propaganda point (multinational corporations are getting multi-billion tax breaks while the government is slashing services) into a demand we have no chance of achieving.
Certainly, there seemed to be widespread bemusement amongts Christmas shoppers as to what we were protesting about. For all most people will know, we were simply the direct action wing of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Polls consistently show that people don't like the cuts but have bought the lies that they are necessary. It does us no favours to imply that if only a handful of dubious corporations paid more tax the poor Tories wouldn't have to cuts all these services. They obviously don't want to.
Despite my reservations about the demo, the meeting afterwards was positive and suggests that there is a real comitment to take the movement forwards. Nottingham may not yet have its own Millbank, but things are definitely happening.
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Comments
Dumb commenter
Published: December 05, 2010 00:14
by
Class Worrier
The person who wrote this comment doesn't seem very bright.
I never said there wasn't a reason to link the two issues, In fact I explicitly said there was.
My criticism is of the idea that "pay your taxes" should be a political demand.
It's a crap slogan peddled by the least imaginative, most reformist, statist lefties.
Even if all the targeted companies were made to "pay their tax" do you think the cuts would stop? Are you really that naive?
The cuts are an ideologically driven programme. The deficit is simply being used as an opportunity to pursue a pre-existing agenda. We shouldn't pretend otherwise.
I agree
Published: December 05, 2010 10:06
by
a
I agree, tax money is NOT our money its money robbed from us by the state. The state decides how to spend it. Giving more money to the state doesn't ensure more money will be spent for social needs.
Saying that, its a populist demand that has opened up the debate and has managed to communicate to the middle ground.
Student demo?
Published: December 05, 2010 13:38
by
Free education
I think this report could have explained a bit more about the other element of the march which was the nottingham students anti-fees and cuts campaign which was what the meeting was about at Trent later. The tax demo was essentially independent from this to being with. There is a whole discussion to have about taxation but it would have been good to hear more in this report about the student demo and march which was noisy and spontaneous and not really concerned where the money is coming from, only that we should have free edcuation and not be faced with £9000 a year to go to university and that the EMA allowance for younger students should not be cut.
Student demo?
Published: December 05, 2010 13:53
by
Class Worrier
I didn't go on the tax demo (1-2pm). The abve report is only about the ostensible student action (2-4pm), which just happened to be largely dominated by the issue of tax avoiding companies.
@Class worrier
Published: December 05, 2010 14:09
by
Get involved
The problem is, if we just stand around slagging off people who are, however misguidedly, taking action, nothing will ever change. Great that students turned out and did something. Shame that there were some crap slogans and some trot manouvering. How are we going to take some positive action to make it better? If we just stand around on the sidelines saying it's crap then we're a bunch of irrelevant wankers.
Sidelines
Published: December 05, 2010 18:53
by
Class Worrier
Don't assume that one post on Indymedia is the extent of my involvement in the anti-cuts movement. I've spent more of my life in Notts SOS meetings than I care to remember.
I think there is real potential in the anti-cuts movement to move beyond the limits of so many lefty/anarchist/green movements in the UK.
This report reflects some of my frustrations (there is some background to this which I have no intention of airing in this public sphere) and also my concerns about the direction the movement is going in.
As I said the demo was sizable and militant, but if we're not clear what we're about as a movement, where we want to go and what we're trying to achieve, I'm worried we'll end up missing the very real opportunities before us.
Students are radicalising quickly and tax protests are part of that radicalisation
Published: December 05, 2010 19:24
by
Stewart Halforty
I thought the demo on Saturday showed the extent of the radicalisation of the student movement over the last few weeks. The issue of tax avoidance has become entwined with that movement, probably because they've arrived on the scene at the same time.
Some of the early tax avoidance protestors who set up Kkuncut, the group calling demos, are environmetal protestors. They see the govt cuts agenda as something to which the tactics of the environmentalist movement can be applied. Occupations, flash mobs, direct action and high profile protests against particular offenders are all effective tactics in raising an issue.
Ukuncut are also close to the student protestors. UCL occupiers shut down a Top Shop last week, and the group's Twitter tag, #ukuncut, has become one of the tags for reporting the student protest.
So it is no surprise the students decided to move their day of action to the same day as the tax avoidance protest. It's a shame the issue isn't more inspiring, but with some well aimed, imaginative action we can show the alternative to wide spread cuts.
A lot of shoppers knew the issue we were protesting about and I think many were pleased to see the students out and protesting.
I hope people will come along to the next protest. This action was part of a national day of action and if another is called we should take part. Come to Notts SOS to plan the resistance to to Tory and Lib Dem cuts.
And Labour Cuts
Published: December 05, 2010 20:19
by
Anti-capitalist
Those of is in Notts SOS who are not stuck with the 'Tory Cuts' mantra of the 1980s will also vigorously oppose Labour cuts - e.g. in the City and neither will we forget what Labour did to us over the last 13 years. This struggle is anti-capitalist or it is nothing. The Labour govt ran the capitalist state in Britain for many years and oversaw cuts and privatisations, never mind the introduction of student fees. And they took us into disgusting and costly wars supposedly in the name of ethical foreign policy LOL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk_politics/2001/open_politics/foreign_policy/morality.stm
Yeah right. And weapons of mass destruction that really do exist sat comfortably at Faslane with a Labour finger on the button. Most Labour MPs in the city and county also voted for the war - actually more to be blamed that many since since Vernon Coaker was a whip.
The current Private Eye a paper which did so much to highlight the Vodafone/HMRC tax scandal, is now reporting (issue 1276 p11) just which Labour who have found lucrative jobs feeding Iain Duncan Smith's work-for-benefits 'Work Programme'.
1) James Purnell, ex-DWP secretary now works for Demos who advise A4E and PWC which are bidding for the Work Programme.
2) Disgraced former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has taken a job advising Sarina Russo Job Access, an Australian employement services company that is also bidding for Work Programme contracts.
3) Angela Smith (Gordon Brown's parliamentary private secretary and minister for the third sector) now in the Lords is now an adviser to Vertex - a privatisation specialist that is bidding for 5 Workprogramme contracts and already supplies DWP to the tune of £3.5m.
Labour Party politicians are as hypocritical and as much the enemy as the the ConDems. The only difference is they are not in power.
Good analysis
Published: December 07, 2010 18:57
by
Cautiously Pessismistic
To the author of this report: cheers, it's always good to see a bit of critical reflection within the movement. I've written a (much longer) attempt to work out the pros and cons of these protests here: http://nothingiseverlost.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/looking-for-power-in-topshop/
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dumb reporting
The person who wrote this report does not seem very bright. There is every reason to link the falure of the rich and big corporations to not dodge their taxes and the hike in student fees.
If those who are dodging their taxes were forced to pay them there would not be a budget deficit!
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/shop-a-scrounger/