UPDATE:

The results are in! Although Vodafone won the poll, it was a close-run thing - so we're gonna pay both Topshop and Vodafone a visit, starting with a Freeze-In in the huge Topshop on Oxford Circus!

Be inside Topshop Oxford Circus, near the tills at the back of the ground floor, BEFORE 1PM. Look inconspicuous.

At 1pm, the 'mic check' wil begin. If you don't know what a 'mic check' is, see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1oHRdiklTlU. The text for the 'mic check' will be available here by Friday morning. Bring a copy and feel free to be the one that kicks us off at 1pm/continue the speech if the person that is leading it gets distracted.

When the 'mic check' starts, FREEZE wherever you are. The only thing that can warm you up is the touch of a security guard - that's your cue to 'melt' and go as floppy as you can!

After some time, we'll gather outside the front of the store, where you'll be provided with an exclusive UK Uncut-branded Santa costume! We'll then head off as a Santa Bloc with our Santa Samba Band for more fun at Vodafone.

See you on Oxford Street!

*New Vodafone and Topshop MIC CHECK for in-store occupy-style fun!*

-TOPSHOP-

MIC CHECK!
MIC CHECK!
Gather round!

Sir Philip Green
is a multi-billionaire businessman
who runs a vast retail empire
including Topshop, BHS and Dorothy Perkins.

Yet Big Phil
does not actually own
any of the Arcadia group
that he spends every day running.
Instead it is in the name
of his Monaco-based wife
who pays not a penny of income tax.

In 2005,
this arrangement allowed Sir Phil
to dodge a £300m tax bill
when he awarded himself
the biggest corporate paycheck in British history.

As a further slap in the face
to the British public,
David Cameron appointed Philip Green
to advise the government
on how best to slash public spending.

The government claim
there is no alternative
to the savage spending cuts
that are destroying our public services
and smashing our welfare state.

It’s a lie.

We will not allow
the poor
the unemployed
the disabled
to pay the price
for a crisis caused by the banks.

We are not all in this together,
and there are alternatives to the cuts.
Here’s one:
force the richest to pay the tax they owe
starting with Philip Green’s missing millions.

Where did all that money go? It went off to Monaco!
When they say cut back, we say fight back! Cut back? Fight back! Cut back? Fight back! Cut, cut, cut back? Fight, fight, fight back!

-VODAFONE-

MIC CHECK!
MIC CHECK!
Gather round!

Vodafone
makes billions of pounds
in profits
from British customers

This year
they paid shareholders
over 6 billion pounds in dividends

But they use
complex schemes and offshore accounts
to avoid paying
their fare share of tax

They owe the British public
over 6 billion pounds
in tax

When UK Uncut first targeted Vodafone
we were told
that 6 billion
was an urban myth

Now we are told
that they may have dodged
8 billion.
That’s right
8 billion pounds.

The government claim
there is no alternative
to their savage spending cuts
that are destroying our public services
and smashing our welfare state.

It’s a lie.

We will not allow
the poor
the unemployed
the disabled
to pay the price
for a crisis caused by the banks.

We are not all in this together,
and there are alternatives to the cuts.
Here’s one:
force the richest to pay the tax they owe
starting with Vodafone’s billions.

Vodafone have a saying:
power to you
we’ve changed it
to power to YOU K UNCUT!

---------

Brrrr. It’s getting cold out there, isn’t it? Fortunately, a lot of us are able to return home at night to a warm house. Due to the coalition’s cuts, many others aren’t so lucky.

Thanks to a combination of savage welfare cuts, reductions in the winter fuel allowance and outrageous profiteering from the big energy companies gone unchecked by the government, one county estimates its seasonal death rate could jump at least 20% as temperatures plummet [1]. Elderly and vulnerable people will suffer worst as we all struggle with the cost of heating our homes.

The government try to tell us they have no alternative to letting people freeze. It's a lie. Just one alternative the government's cuts is to stop tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals, estimated to cost the state at least £25bn each year [2].

Because companies like Vodafone and rich individuals like Sir Philip Green don't want to pay their tax, people are going cold this Christmas. Vodafone's £8bn tax dodge, signed off by HMRC chief Dave Hartnett, could pay for all of the proposed cuts in the coming year - instead they've dished out a £6bn dividend to shareholders.

On December 17th, as part of UK Uncut's Christmas Special [3], join us for a special 'flash Freeze-In' in a Vodafone or Topshop in central London (exact location to be revealed at a later date).

Invite all your friends and family, especially those who will be feeling the cold this winter. Keep an eye on this page for confirmation of the time and place.

Stop tax dodging, warm our homes. See you on the high streets.

UK Uncut action page at http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/actions/772

[1] http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9403783.100_000_Sussex_homes_in_fuel_poverty/
[2] http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/about/cuts
[3] http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/christmas-special

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