This Thursday, UKUncut will protest outside the Daily Mail’s headquarters against the paper’s “long history of abusing and defaming benefit claimants”. VN doesn’t dispute the fact that the Mail frequently resort to hyperbolic and offensive language to cover such issues, but is unconvinced that this is what has actually prompted action from UKUncut.
The real reason is revealed later on in the statement about the protest:
“The Daily Mail’s chairperson is Viscount Rotheremere, a non-dom who avoids UK taxes on his vast wealth by claiming to live in France despite owning a £40 million house with a 220-acre estate in Wiltshire.”
Far from raising legitimate concerns about the way a major newspaper covers sensitive issues, it looks rather like UKUncut have just found an excuse to have a go at another rich person (note the use of Viscount Rothermere’s title, not his name, Jonahthan Harmsworth). Essentially UKUncut are engaged in nothing more than class warfare, and are using any issue they can find as a fig leaf for this.
This was abundantly clear in their choice of occupation venue on the TUC march on March 26th. While there are legitimate issues to be raised about organisations that avoid tax through loopholes in the law, there are perfectly legal ways for companies and individuals to only pay what they are legally obliged to, as Total Politic’s Shane Greer points out. The Fortnum’s occupation was just trying to disrupt somewhere ‘posh’ – what other reason could the group have for occupying a company, owned by a charity?
Of course, it’s not just about tax avoidance though. The UKUncut website declares:
“A cabinet of millionaires have decided that libraries, healthcare, education funding, voluntary services, sports, the environment, the disabled, the poor and the elderly must pay the price for the recklessness of the rich.”
Looks like more class war to VN…
VN will always support the right to peaceful protest, and UKUncut are not involved in the violence that has also been seen at anti-cuts demos. However, the idea that tightening some tax loopholes will sort out the structural problems in Britain’s economy is ridiculous. UKUncut are nothing more than a divisive organisation that are using austerity and tax avoidance as a cover for restarting old fashioned class war.