We are not all in this together. Look at Canary Wharf, home of some of the world’s biggest banks, located on a private estate in east London. Its shining glass towers are entirely within the borough of Tower Hamlets, where four out of ten children are growing up in poverty. Like so many councils under the coalition government, Tower Hamlets is making cuts to many local services.
But it’s not the people of east London who caused the crisis – it’s the financial institutions of Canary Wharf.
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.
On 14 June, UK Uncut is teaming up with ‘They Owe Us’ to reclaim and transform the space of Canary Wharf. We will converge amid the skyscrapers to resist, to create – and to imagine alternatives. Our action coincides with the G8 summit, which will bring the world’s most powerful politicians to the UK.
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.
As presidents and prime ministers converge on Britain to push their agenda of brutal austerity, join us in Canary Wharf, the soulless heart of financial capitalism, to expose their lies and fight for the alternative.
Meet at 12.30pm on Friday 14 June at Jubilee Plaza outside the west exit of Canary Wharf tube.
Check out the ‘They Owe Us’ website closer to the time for more details.