London fin. hub earmarked for anti-austerity protests
British anti-austerity campaigners will protest at Londonâ„¢s financial center, the Canary Wharf, ahead of the upcoming G8 summit to call attention to the plight of ordinary Britons and the growing poor-rich gap.
UN Uncut said they will rally in conjunction with They Owe Us campaign group at Canary Wharf tube station on Friday.
The anti-austerity group said they want to highlight the paradox of four out of ten children living in poverty in the borough of Tower Hamlets, where Canary Wharf is located, because of the financial crisis created by the institutions of Canary Wharf.
Å“They are all here. The investment banks that gambled with our homes, our jobs and our future. The ratings agencies that made massive profits while branding toxic derivatives as safe. The accountancy firms that helped write government tax policy, then advised their clients on how to find the loopholes. The regulators that looked the other way while the financial sector brought our economy to its knees,” UK Uncut said in a statement on its website.
The action comes ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland where leaders of eight top economies are pledging to address tax evasion and global hunger.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister David Cameron and other officials at the Nutrition for Growth event in London pledged up to £2.72bn to tackle malnutrition.
This comes as a report by two leading British charities, Church Action Poverty and Oxfam, found last month that 500,000 people now rely on food banks in Britain.
Å“[During the G8 summit] David Cameron will promise to fight hunger – while half a million people in the UK depend on food banks. He will promise to clamp down on tax avoidance – without making the real changes that could deal with the problem,” UK Uncut said.
The group added that the G8 summit is about nothing but a few leaders converging to Å“push their agenda of brutal austerity” saying Å“their lies” should be exposed as people Å“fight for the alternative”.
Britain has been beset with a series of high-profile tax avoidance scandals recently including by major names such as Google and Starbucks coffee shops.
Britainâ„¢s largest water company Thames Water has been the latest exposed tax dodger after it emerged that it paid no tax for reported profits of £550 million in 2012.
AMR/HE
This article originally appeared on: Press TV