Vodafone closure campaign - Tax-dodging protest began over a pint in Nag's Head pub

Published: 29 December 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

A CHAT among friends in an Islington pub has sparked a nationwide campaign against tax dodgers – with protesters forcing alleged culprit Vodafone to shut stores throughout the country.

Twelve pals decided that “something must be done” about tax dodging  as they sank a few pints in the Nag’s Head, in Upper Street.

The result was the launch of UK Uncut, now running a high-profile campaign to persuade the government to crack down on tax dodgers rather than axe public services.

Campaigners are particularly angry at tax dodging by corporations and wealthy individuals.

Supporters of the campaign have closed Vodafone’s store in Liverpool Road, Angel, for about an hour on successive Saturdays. Will Davids, of UK Uncut, said: “We were in the Nag’s Head talking about cuts to the NHS and so on, and we deci­ded to take action.    

“The next thing we know, we’ve got a nationwide movement on our hands. It was unbelievable. We’ve been more successful than we could ever have hoped.”

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates that tax dodgers cost the public purse £42billion annually – just over half the £81billion the government is slashing from public services next financial year.

And some experts believe that “tax gap” figure could be much higher – ranging up to £120billion.

An alleged culprit is mobile phone giant Vodafone – who reached a deal with HMRC to pay £1.25billion uncollected tax when it is claimed the figure should have been around £5billion to £6billion.

Mr Davids said: “We were just a group of friends having a drink together. It certainly wasn’t a political meeting but we got chatting about the cuts – like people all over the country.

“Every time we talked about the cuts, it kept coming back to the story about Vodafone and the £6billion.

“Later in the evening, when we were all a bit tipsy, we decided to blockade a Vodafone store.”

They recruited more people to their cause on internet site Twitter and a few days later they were among a crowd of 65 people who barricaded themselves into Vodafone’s store in Oxford Street.

Vodafone has since been forced to temporarily shut 20 stores all over the country as protesters organised  demonstrations on the internet.

Mr Davids said: “What we are doing undermines the whole ‘there is no alternative’ argument that the government is pushing so hard. It exposes it as an ideological choice – the choice to punish the poor rather than inconvenience the super-rich.”

Inspired by UK Uncut, Islington Hands Off Our Public Services  (IHOOPS) supporters joined protests outside Vodafone in Angel. The shop’s managers shut the store after a crowd of about 50 gathered outside in a blizzard chanting “Pay your taxes!”

Vodafone has denied it has an unpaid £6billion tax bill. A spokesman said that earlier this year it had reached agreement with HM Revenue and Customs over a £1.25bill­ion settlement, “the largest corporate tax settlement in UK history”. 

“In the UK, where we employ almost 10,000 people, our business contributes more than £700million every year to the Exchequer in tax, VAT, PAYE, National Insurance and the fees we pay for our mobile phone spectrum,” the spokesman added.