Press release: UK Uncut announce 'Occupy for the Alternative'
UK Uncut: For immediate release
For interviews and information please call the UK Uncut media number 07951 992 825
UK Uncut announce: 'Occupy for the Alternative' – plans for 26 March, anti-cuts protest
2pm – UK Uncut groups from across the country will target banks and shops on Oxford Street
3.30pm – UK Uncut will announce and occupy a secret target – and aim to stay for as long as possible
UK Uncut, the anti-cuts direct action group, will take over retailers and banks on Oxford Street, London's busiest shopping street, on 26th March, the day of a massive demonstration highlighting alternatives to the government's cuts programme called by the TUC.
Up to a quarter of a million people from across the country are expected to join the march in protest at the government's failure to pursue alternatives to unprecedented cuts in public spending. During and after the march, activists from UK Uncut plan to turn banks and tax-dodging stores on Oxford Street into creches, libraries and homeless shelters to point out that these services could be saved by clamping down on tax avoidance and making banks contribute more.
Activists from UK Uncut will also be forming a bloc on the march where hundreds of their supporters who have taken action in cities and towns across the country will come together for the first time. The last UK Uncut day of action saw actions in 40 different locations across the UK including Aberdeen, Abergavenny, Tunbrige Wells, London and Manchester.
Whereas previous days of action have focused on a single company, it is expected that from 2pm, UK Uncut groups from different towns across the UK will simulataneously shut down the premises of the different brands, including tax-dodging retailers Vodafone, Boots, Tesco, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins and banks RBS, Lloyds, Natwest and Barclays.
The protesters say that in addition, a secret target will be revealed on the day of the march, with regional groups expected to come together for a mass occupation.
Laura Carpenter, 32, said: "The government say there is no alternative to the cuts. 26th March is the day that people from across the UK come together to show that they will not tolerate this lie. The government is making a political choice to cut and privatise public services whilst there are clear alternatives, like making the banks pay for the crisis that they caused or clamping down on tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals. I'm going to join in the start of the march but then head off to Oxford Street, as I feel it's important I show how strongly I feel about this issue."
Sam Oakes, 28 said "The previous UK Uncut protests I've attended have been highly creative, great fun and really effective in showing everyone that there are alternatives to the cuts. Occupying a shop can seem a bit scary, but once you've done it and people on the street are stopping to congratulate you, you realise the power of people coming together to take action, so once you've marched why not occupy?."
For more information or interview requests, please call 07951 992 825
The secret target will not be revealed until the 26th March.
For more information on UK Uncut's previous days of action and the plan for 'Occupy for the alternative', please see www.ukuncut.org
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