A group supporting the Fortnum145 has launched today.
We have already stated our support for those arrested after taking peacefully protesting in Fortnum and Mason on March 26th, and would ask you all to share these links.
www.fortnum145.org is their website
@FM145 and #Fortnum145 on twitter
At least 11 of the 138 currently charged are from Birmingham, so we need to show support and solidarity for those who are working against the cuts.
Filed under Events, Media/Press
On Saturday March 26th, 145 peaceful protesters were arrested for conducting a sit in at Fortnum and Mason in Picadilly. 138 have been charged, including 11 people from Birmingham. They are currently bailed to appear in court in London in May.
These charges – 94% of those brought after the day of demonstration against cuts – are politically motivated, according to UKUncut and came despite assurances from a senior police officer that the activists would not be arrested
Several unions and NGOs have written an open letter supporting UKUncut whose statement we agree with.
UKUncut have taken direct action against tax avoiding high street shops since October, and along with work by the Tax Justice Network and Tax Research UK have pushed tax avoidance right up the political agenda. Tax avodiance costs the UK treasury around £25bn/year – enough to remove around 1/4 of the planned cuts. This is almost entirely done by very wealth individuals and large multinational companies, who employ tax planners to devise convoluted schemes whose only purpose is to shift income and profits offshore to lower tax regimes.
Fortnum and Mason employs such a scheme to avoid paying around £10m of tax each year, which is why they were chosen by UKUncut for action on March 26th.
Birmingham Against the Cuts supports the activities of UKUncut, and would like to extend our solidarity to the 11 people who have been arrested from Birmingham, and the 127 others from around the UK.
We call for these politically motivated charges to be dropped, and argue that it is not in the public interest to spend the time and money taking 138 peaceful protesters to court.
You can help support them by adding your voice to the support campaign at www.fortnum145.org, or on Facebook
Filed under Events
The March for the Alternative is just a couple of days away, and as I’ll be going down on Friday evening this is likely to be the last you hear from Birmingham Against the Cuts online before Saturday..
Some tips from the TUC for marchers
Stay warm, keep safe, be peaceful.
If you’re looking for transport at the last minute, the False Economy site is the best place to go, ring through the coaches there. There is a link on the right.
See you on the streets!
Solidarity
Tom
Birmingham Against the Cuts internet person
There are a few things going on over the next week, helping to build Birmingham Against the Cuts and the two demonstrations at the end of the month – 23rd March in Birmingham on budget day, and the TUC national demonstration in London on the 26th.:
St Patricks Day (Sun 13th) – stall and leafletting, meeting at 11am Waterstones, near the Bull Statue, High Street. Conatct Tony Foley on 07845 969 959.
Stirchley and Cotteridge against the cuts will be street leafleting this Saturday (12th) (meet at the Grant Arms, Cotteridge at 2pm), Sunday (meet on Park Avenue, Cotteridge Park at 2pm) and Monday evening – contact Stirchleyanticuts@gmail.com for more information
Sat 19th – Stalls around Birmingham, confirmed stalls:
City Centre – times tbc, contact birminghamagainstthecuts@gmail.com if you can help.
Erdington – 11am-1pm, Erdington Co-op – contact Stuart 0777 594 2841 or Pete 0780 940 6973 if you can help.
Cotteridge – 11-12:30, Cotteridge Island – contact stirchleyanticuts@gmail.com if you can help.
Handsworth – 12 – 1.30 Soho Road, Meet outside the library at 12. Contact Bernie on 07835972704 if you can help.
If you would like to do a stall for Birmingham Against the Cuts in your area please contact us – birminghamagainstthecuts@gmail.com – we can supply you with leaflets about us, March 23rd and March 26th for you to use along with other materials such as Save the NHS leaflets.
If you are already planning a stall for us, and I’ve forgotten about you, then let me know so I can add you onto the list 🙂
March 23rd is Budget Day, when the ConDem coalition will set out their destructive austerity policies for the following financial year.
The imminent onset of austerity measures has had the effect of causing GDP to contract by 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010. The ConDems blamed snow, but Germany (which does not have severe austerity measures in place), grew by 0.6% GDP.
Nobel prize winning economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugmann have argued against austerity measures, and even the IMF has warned that if too many countries introduce austerity measures this could cause the global recession to return.
We argue that cutting government spending at a time of weak, jobless growth, is not the best method for reducing the deficit, and that there are alternatives.
See False Economy for more information.
Come and join us on the 23rd March to demonstrate against austerity measures, and meet other people who are going to London the following Saturday for the TUC National Demonstration for the Alternative.
17:00-18:45, Government Office for the West Midlands, 5 St Philip’s Place, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2PW
If you’re on facebook, invite your friends to the event: Facebook Event
For more information about March 26th, see the TUC website . If you want to come and need transport, contact your union or email us birminghamagainstthecuts@gmail.com. You can also find transport on the False Economy website
Filed under Events
Birmingham Against The Cuts 