Dave Reid
UK Uncut protest against banks and to save the NHS in Cardiff, photo Socialist Party Wales (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
Topshop in Cardiff city centre was occupied on Saturday 28 May. This was in protest at cuts to the NHS taking place while billionaire business people like Topshop’s owner Sir Phillip Green avoid paying tax.
Green, for example, gave himself a bonus of £1.2 billion, but paid it to his wife who is registered as a resident of Monaco and so avoided paying £500 million tax in Britain.
UK Uncut activists joined with members of Cardiff Against the Cuts, socialists and other anti-capitalist campaigners to occupy Topshop’s flagship store in Wales for an hour. Security personnel grappled with peaceful protesters as Topshop management closed the store.
Hundreds of shoppers and protesters gathered outside the store as a stand-off with the police developed. Most shoppers supported the protest.
UK Uncut protest against banks and to save the NHS in Cardiff, photo Socialist Party Wales (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
The UK Uncut occupation coincided with a number of protests in Cardiff city centre.
Some Spanish students had organised a Democratia Real Ya rally in support of youth occupying squares in Spanish cities against unemployment. Cardiff Against the Cuts organised a ‘Busk Against the Cuts’ and Socialist Party members campaigned against £1.9 billion being cut from the NHS in Wales.
All four campaigns came together at the Topshop protest.
