British Fuel & Impartial Dwelling: Two protests on Monday twelfth Could 2014 in Westminster. the primary about gasoline poverty and local weather change and the second over plans to finish the Impartial Dwelling Fund which enabled many disabled folks to proceed to work and have an impartial life.
Bin British Fuel – QEII Centre, Westminster
British Fuel had been holding their AGM within the QEII centre and a protest exterior demanded they cease profiteering from excessive power costs and finish help for fracking.
The protest was known as by Gas Poverty Motion who say there have been over 10,000 additional deaths final winter as a result of folks had been unable to warmth their properties, whereas Centrica, the father or mother firm of British Fuel, made £2.5 billion in 2013. Whereas they raised gasoline costs by 10.4% and electrical energy by 8.4%.
Additionally they known as for presidency and power corporations to finish help for fracking which in addition to threatening water provides within the UK would additionally result in extra climate-wrecking carbon dioxide emissions.
The campaigners known as for larger funding in renewable power, which in the long run will end in cheaper power and can assist us deal with local weather change. However this isn’t common with the large six power corporations (and the federal government which is led by their lobbyists) because it allows larger native era and management of power, threatening their monopoly of power manufacturing and income.
On the protest had been representatives from gasoline poverty, pensioner, local weather, housing teams and renewable power co-operatives. After a lot of speeches together with from Inexperienced Get together chief Natalie Bennett, Paula Peters of Disabled Individuals Towards Cuts, folks got here collectively too tear up British Fuel power payments.
A large invoice was torn up and Lambeth pensioner, Ellen Lebethe, introduced out a poster-size Gas Poverty Motion ‘Vitality Invoice of Rights.’
- All of us have the correct to reasonably priced power to satisfy our primary wants.
- All of us have the correct to power that doesn’t hurt us, the surroundings, or the local weather.
- All of us have the correct to power that doesn’t threaten well being, security, water, air, or the native surroundings of a neighborhood.
- All of us have the correct to a good power pricing that doesn’t penalise those that use much less.
- All of us have the correct to not be lower off from power provide.
- All of us have the correct to not be compelled to have a prepayment meter.
- All of us have the correct to power that’s owned by us and run in our pursuits.
Contained in the Centrica AGM, a member of Reclaim Shakespeare Firm had stood up holding a can of beans and a cranium to learn a model of Hamlet’s iconic monologue, entitled “To Warmth or Eat, that’s the query”, and this was learn out on the protest. Shortly after the actor got here out from the constructing to inform us about what had occurred inside.
The protest ended with folks planting 100 small windmills constituted of folded British Fuel payments within the grass exterior the QEII centre.
Extra footage at Bin British Fuel.
Save Impartial Dwelling Fund – Dept of Work & Pensions
The Impartial Dwelling Fund (ILF) was arrange in 1988 beneath the Thatcher authorities to offered monetary help to a few of the most severely disabled folks within the UK. Its predominant use was to allow them to have carers and private assistants so they may stay of their communities and for a lot of to proceed in helpful employment.
The ILF was administered by a individually funded physique and was extremely cost-effective, offering help at a lot decrease prices than residential care in addition to enabling these receiving help to stay impartial lives Round 18,000 folks had been being assisted by the fund in 2014.
When the federal government introduced it was scrapping the scheme in England in 2010 it was met with protests by disabled folks and in 2013 was taken to courtroom. The federal government gained the case that its resolution was lawful, however misplaced within the Court docket of Attraction.
A revised proposal was then made by the federal government to announce as soon as once more in March 2014 that ILF would shut. A contemporary authorized problem failed in December 2014 and the scheme led to June 2015, with duty for supporting disabled folks being handed to native authorities who got funding roughly 12% lower than the ILF – and which was not ring-fenced.
Police tried to influence the protesters to maintain to a small space effectively to 1 aspect of the Dept of Work & Pensions however they refused and protested in a bigger area in entrance of the 2 predominant doorways, which had been each locked for the occasion.
On the centre of the protest was a small cage, with the message ‘NO ILF – NO LIFE‘ throughout its high, and beneath the barred window ‘With out Assist We Change into Prisoners In Our Personal Houses – Save the Impartial Dwelling Fund’. Squeezed into this was Paula Peters of DPAC, Disabled Individuals Towards Cuts, the group who had organised the protest.
Quite a lot of folks informed their ‘ILF tales‘ of how the fund had helped them and the way they feared its closure would severely restrict their lives. DPAC tried to ship a letter to Minister for the Disabled Mike Penning however had been refused entry to the constructing and nobody from the division was ready to come back and obtain it.
One of many protesters who had travelled from Newcastle phoned her MP from right here wheelchair exterior the DWP, and Mary Glindon, the Labour MP for North Tyneside got here all the way down to help the protest. She did not get DWP safety to let the protesters ship their letter however provided to ship it for them. She was let in by means of a aspect entrance to take action then got here out and spoke briefly giving her help to the protest.
Extra at Save Impartial Dwelling Fund.
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Tags: British Fuel, carers, Centrica, local weather, Dept of Work & Pensions, Disabled Individuals Towards Cuts, DPAC, DWP, Ellen Lebethe, Vitality Invoice of Rights, power payments, fracking, Gas poverty, Gas Poverty Motion, housing, big income, ILF, Impartial Dwelling, Impartial Dwelling Fund, London, Mary Glindon, Paula Peters, pensioner, private assistants, peter Marshall, worth rises, protest, QEII centre, Reclaim Shakespeare Firm, renewable power, To Warmth or Eat, windmills
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