On a wet and windy Saturday afternoon around 40/50 Bristolians attended a UK Uncut protest to save the NHS. Protesters first assembled in Castle Park, some donning doctors' scrubs, before moving to protest outside the Bristol Broadmead branch of Barclays, joining others who had a Save Our NHS stall and petition.
We were drawing attention to the relation between the huge bank bailout, the current £100 billion annual subsidy and the cuts being inflicted upon public services.
The protest stressed the opposition to Cameron/Lansley 'reforms', creeping privatisation and an agenda which will see the NHS as we know it disappear.
Intelligence had clearly reached Broadmead before the protestors, as Barclays had closed its doors to customers by the time we had reached the bank. And it stayed closed for the duration of the Emergency Operation.
Shoppers milling about were receptive to the UK Uncut protesters as they handed out leaflets and spoke to passers-by about the banks and the cuts, about their impact upon services, and especially implications for older people and disabled people.
Barclays bank was targetted due to its policy of avoiding paying UK taxes via its tax haven subsidiaries, for its obscene pay-packets for senior executives compared with its underpaid workforce, as well as being part of the sector that took nearly £1 trillion public money after having destroyed the world economy.
In the midst of a government campaign to convince the public that human beings must accept cuts to public services and a decline in the standard of living, we were angry that we are also being told that it was necessary to give billions of pounds of public money to millionaires who refuse to contribute to the public purse.
One protester explained, "It's like Robin Hood in reverse. I'm amazed that so many people believe the lie that we need to make cuts – if that's true, then where do they find the money to give to the banks?"
(... And for that matter the £1 billion it s estimated to have been spent on the war in Libya ...)
A leaflet being handed out reiterated this point: the boss of Barclays takes £11 million per year in his pay packet. This sum is 1000 times what the average Barclays cashier earns and would pay for the salaries of 542 nurses or 380,000 Education Maintenance Allowances yet the banking sector is still receiving £100 million a year from the public purse. The average wage for a Barclays bank teller or customer advisor is less than £14,000 per year!
At the same time ordinary Bristolians are facing £30 million cuts to local public services. A young activist explained "that's why we're here. It’s about the banks really - somehow everyone has forgotten how much money they stole, and are being convinced to blame the poor and the unwell for economic problems. It is such nonsense, but people believe it. We are here to tell them otherwise because the media won't".
After an hour or so outside Barclays, the protest moved to the nearby branch of NatWest, appropriately located opposite Lloyds TSB. A small brief occupation was halted by security. Somebody had clearly not told the anxious bank manager that the public owns the majority of NatWest via Royal Bank of Scotland: we were prevented from entering!
There were no arrests.
A spontaneous street meeting - which in itself attracted passers-by attention - outside NatWest, committed protesters to further and more direct action ... to be planned
Contact Bristol UK Uncut
twitter.com/bristolukuncut
facebook.com/bristolukuncut
bristolukuncut@riseup.net
No comments:
Post a Comment