UK Uncut stages bedroom tax protests at Lord Freud and Iain Duncan Smith’s million pound mansions
Posted on Sat 13th Apr 2013, 1:15pmUK Uncut stages bedroom tax protests at Lord Freud and Iain Duncan Smith’s million pound mansions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information and interviews, please call 0741 506 3231/ 0779 303 1984
Hundreds of people are protesting over the bedroom tax and benefits cap at Lord Freud’s £1.9million home and 20 disabled activists are staging a protest at Iain Duncan Smith’s country mansion in Buckinghamshire worth more than £2million.
The protest was called by UK Uncut, the anti-cuts direct action network, who promised that they would ‘bring resistance to the homes of high profile politicians pushing the cuts’. Lord Freud, the Tory peer and former investment banker, has spearheaded the bedroom tax, cuts to the Welfare State and the introduction of the Universal Credit. He also has an eight-bedroom mansion in Kent.
The disabled activists, from Disabled People Against the Cuts, have presented Iain Duncan Smith with an eviction notice at his five-bedroom, 16th century house which includes a swimming pool in Swanbourne. IDS has presided over the implementation of unprecedented cuts of the Welfare State which are hitting disabled people particularly hard. It’s recently emerged that 17,000 blind people will be hit by the bedroom tax. Houses are likely to have been specially adapted and blind people are particularly isolated if they are forced to move to new areas which they do not know how to get around.
At the London protest at Lord Freud’s house, an estimated 400 people attended the protest where children were read a Freudian bedtime story, a removal van unloaded sofas and an eviction notice was served. UK Uncut supporter Sarah Knight whose mother is losing money because of the Bedroom Tax said: “My mum has just found out that she will have to pay the bedroom tax. My family is terrified about what’s going to happen. People’s hearts are being broken as this government is turning Thatcher’s wildest dreams into a nightmarish reality. But this protest is not about Thatcher’s death, it’s about the ongoing assault on the welfare state.
“I am too young to remember Thatcher as a Prime Minister but people like me are having our childhoods and now adult lives decimated by this government that continues to punish poorer people to improve the lives of the rich – the bedroom tax is the latest example of this. And that’s why I’m here today – it’s made me really happy that we are resisting these devastating cuts, showing we will not stand for it.”
From outside Ian Duncan Smith’s country mansion Disabled People Against the Cuts activist Eric Robson said: “This month sees the latest round of government attacks on disabled people. Two out of three homes affected by the bedroom tax have disabled people living in them, the beginning of the end for DLA, council tax changes, no legal aid for benefit appeals and the ongoing discredited WCAs mean millions of disabled people will be poorer – and still have the same barriers to work and society. There is no strategy in place to address this except forced labour and sanctions. Yet hundreds of millions are handed to profiteers like Atos and Capita to make this happen.
“We are calling on this government to stop this war on benefit claimants, public services and low paid workers. We are calling on our communities, disabled and non-disabled people, workers and claimants, unemployed people, single mothers, pensioners, students and everyone who cares about social justice to oppose these cuts. We will not be written out of the story of our own lives.”
Isabel Young, who works with vulnerable women said in a speech to the crowd “A room for foster children or teenagers or a disabled partner might be spare for people who live in mansions but not for anyone else. People are being forced to pay £14 a week for having this room, again this may be spare cash in the pockets of millionaire politicians, but it is the difference between adequately feeding a family and staying warm, and for some it will mean choosing between a hostel or the streets.“
ENDS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information and interviews, please call 0741 506 3231/ 0779 303 1984
Hundreds of people are protesting over the bedroom tax and benefits cap at Lord Freud’s £1.9million home and 20 disabled activists are staging a protest at Iain Duncan Smith’s country mansion in Buckinghamshire worth more than £2million.
The protest was called by UK Uncut, the anti-cuts direct action network, who promised that they would ‘bring resistance to the homes of high profile politicians pushing the cuts’. Lord Freud, the Tory peer and former investment banker, has spearheaded the bedroom tax, cuts to the Welfare State and the introduction of the Universal Credit. He also has an eight-bedroom mansion in Kent.
The disabled activists, from Disabled People Against the Cuts, have presented Iain Duncan Smith with an eviction notice at his five-bedroom, 16th century house which includes a swimming pool in Swanbourne. IDS has presided over the implementation of unprecedented cuts of the Welfare State which are hitting disabled people particularly hard. It’s recently emerged that 17,000 blind people will be hit by the bedroom tax. Houses are likely to have been specially adapted and blind people are particularly isolated if they are forced to move to new areas which they do not know how to get around.
At the London protest at Lord Freud’s house, an estimated 400 people attended the protest where children were read a Freudian bedtime story, a removal van unloaded sofas and an eviction notice was served. UK Uncut supporter Sarah Knight whose mother is losing money because of the Bedroom Tax said: “My mum has just found out that she will have to pay the bedroom tax. My family is terrified about what’s going to happen. People’s hearts are being broken as this government is turning Thatcher’s wildest dreams into a nightmarish reality. But this protest is not about Thatcher’s death, it’s about the ongoing assault on the welfare state.
“I am too young to remember Thatcher as a Prime Minister but people like me are having our childhoods and now adult lives decimated by this government that continues to punish poorer people to improve the lives of the rich – the bedroom tax is the latest example of this. And that’s why I’m here today – it’s made me really happy that we are resisting these devastating cuts, showing we will not stand for it.”
From outside Ian Duncan Smith’s country mansion Disabled People Against the Cuts activist Eric Robson said: “This month sees the latest round of government attacks on disabled people. Two out of three homes affected by the bedroom tax have disabled people living in them, the beginning of the end for DLA, council tax changes, no legal aid for benefit appeals and the ongoing discredited WCAs mean millions of disabled people will be poorer – and still have the same barriers to work and society. There is no strategy in place to address this except forced labour and sanctions. Yet hundreds of millions are handed to profiteers like Atos and Capita to make this happen.
“We are calling on this government to stop this war on benefit claimants, public services and low paid workers. We are calling on our communities, disabled and non-disabled people, workers and claimants, unemployed people, single mothers, pensioners, students and everyone who cares about social justice to oppose these cuts. We will not be written out of the story of our own lives.”
Isabel Young, who works with vulnerable women said in a speech to the crowd “A room for foster children or teenagers or a disabled partner might be spare for people who live in mansions but not for anyone else. People are being forced to pay £14 a week for having this room, again this may be spare cash in the pockets of millionaire politicians, but it is the difference between adequately feeding a family and staying warm, and for some it will mean choosing between a hostel or the streets.“
ENDS
'Who wants to evict a millionaire?' What you can expect on the day...
Posted on Thu 11th Apr 2013, 9:07pm
This Saturday UK Uncut will be bringing civil disobedience to the doorsteps of some of the reckless millionaires responsible for the unjust and unnecessary cuts devastating people’s lives across the country.
Here’s what you can expect from the day:
- In London hundreds of people will be gathering at the main concourse of King’s Cross station at 11.30am. They will be heading to the home of a mega-rich politician who is directly responsible for the bedroom tax for a day of resistance. Bring an oyster card zones 1 - 2, water and food to share, comfy shoes, flags, pillow cases, paints, balloons and banners!
- In Brixton, Chelmsford, Birmingham and Manchester, other groups will be taking to the streets to fight back. We also have a few surprises planned…
- We will use civil disobedience that is creative, determined and exciting. UK Uncut has transformed public and private spaces, including high street tax dodgers and banks, blocked roads and bridges and partied outside the deputy prime minister’s house to protest against austerity. Expect more of the same!
- We will be putting our bodies in the way of economic and social injustice. We will be resisting the cuts that are devastating ours and others lives, and bring that resistance to the homes of the politicians who are pushing these cuts.
- We will find ways to get to our target no matter what. It’s important that we look after each other and work together to reach our destination. Follow the pillow cases and UK Uncut on twitter and facebook to get to the target. We always aim to be creative, child friendly, caring of each other while we confront those in power. Please don’t bring loads of booze, we need to be on our toes and we can have a beer later.
- We know for sure what will happen if we don’t act and stay at home: Cameron, Osborne and co will carry on ripping the heart out of the welfare state.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
If you’re coming along on Saturday, as with any protest and act of civil disobedience, it’s important to know your legal rights.
At the London action on Saturday there will be legal observers from GBC who are there to monitor police behaviour – it’s important that you report anything to them that you witness.
GBC's legal support number is: 07946 541511
The Activists’ Legal Project have a model ‘bust card’ – providing simple info about what to do if you do get arrested- these will be given out on the day.
Arrests at UK Uncut actions are rare, but the police response is unpredictable and heightened security concerns from the police because of Thatcher’s death make it more uncertain. It’s important that we are looking out for each other and for the people who come to our actions.
We will have fun, we will make our resistance known and we will look out for each other’s safety.
For more information you can directly contact one of the specialist groups set up to help protesters deal with the police and the legal system.
The Activists’ Legal Project and the Green & Black Cross (GBC) offer legal briefings and resources.
See you on the streets!
Guest blog: Fight the bedroom tax with anger and action
Posted on Tue 9th Apr 2013, 7:14pm
Fight the bedroom tax with anger and action
Guest blog by Frances Ryan
One person can look at something and see it entirely differently than another. Apparently, the ‘bedroom tax’ is one of those.
We all know what it is by now and we all know who it will affect. The majority are disabled. Most are struggling to pay the bills. Some are victims of domestic violence or are parents of abused kids. They’re the people who can least afford a penalty for having an ‘extra’ room in their home and, as an added hit, are the ones most likely to need one.
I’d be interested in the person who can look at that and think it is anything other than wrong.
Some manage to look at the penalty and see it as a way of making things fairer, citing large families currently on the housing waiting list and private tenants who pay higher bills. Because it is the definition of fairness to make the most vulnerable take the brunt of the cuts and the way to make things better for the poor is to set them against the poor.
Some claim Discretionary Housing Payments – subjective, tiny, and without the right to appeal – mean there’s a safety net. The same people listen gladly to David Cameron making grossly misleading statements in Parliament about many having nothing to worry about, when they do, and they are fully aware of that.
Some say it’s not a tax, it’s a cut. Some can hear a human being’s fears of homelessness, choosing between food and heating, and losing access to their children – and claim semantics is what we should be angry about.
I’d suggest being angry about something else.
The parents with the adult disabled child, who are barely getting by. They need the box room to store oxygen cylinders, adult sized nappies, and specialist equipment but the Government says it is spare.
The single person with severe anxiety who has lived on their street for almost thirty years. There’s no one bedroom flat within ten miles of her home and she doesn’t know how she’s going to cope.
The husband who sleeps in a different bedroom to his wife because her disability mean she needs a specialist bed. She has bed sores and he’s afraid what will happen if they’re charged for needing the only room the bed fits in. Other benefit cuts are coming this month and they have no luxuries left to lose.
The disabled almost-pensioner who has been assessed by the Government as being physically unable to work, but has been told by the same department that he’ll now have to find some way to make up the short fall in his housing benefit. The council paid for many adaptations to his house and if he has to move out, they’ll have to do it again somewhere else.
The woman who was beaten by her partner and will be penalised for living in the house she was given as a place to be safe. And her six year old son who’s recovering from abuse and can’t cope with having his little sister share his space. He cut her hair off once and his mum faces making her two children share or not being able to pay the bills.
The people I mention are real people, a few who I’ve spoken to over the past couple of months. They’re a small section of the number who have written to me and other journalists, hoping, I imagine, that someone will listen. They’re a handful of the hundreds of thousands in our society who will be made poorer this month as millionaires enjoy a tax cut.
It’s time to be angry about that. It’s time to take action. A day of it in fact, on April 13th.
Find out how you can get involved in UK Uncut's protest against the bedroom tax 'Who wants to evict a millionaire?' on Saturday 13th April here.
Frances Ryan is a freelance writer, predominantly for The Guardian and New Statesman. You can follow her on Twitter: @frances__ryan