Fighting Tax in Britain?

Question

if tax is so high on things we can't control like petrol and food etc. Could people just turn around and stop paying council tax and income tax and stamp to make ourselves heard? Kind of like going on strike as a nation. I know it would make things worse before they got better, but how long are we going to be bullied by the british government before we stand up as a whole and fight back?

Answer 1

Aren,t you being rather cruel my dear? where will all our MP,s get their outragious expenses from?

You are quite right though, nothing will be done until we do something as a nation of people together, I admire the aproach you would take.

Good on yer!  

Answer 2

that will make things worse

everyone has us by the balls and if we try to move they just clench a bit harder

Answer 3

" how long are we going to be bullied by the british government before we stand up as a whole and fight back? "

The answer to that question is quite simple... Never.

The British people love to complain but rarely direct their complaints to the people they are complaining about.  Everyone who isn't in the pocket of the government knows the country has gone to the dogs but we still tootle along from home to work every day like good little slaves, bitching and whining to each other about how bad it is, how good it used to be and how awful it's going to be in the future...

If everyone in the country decided to take a stand the government would be up a certain creek without a paddle.  The reason the state and the corporations bleed us dry is because we let them and that will never change.

Everyone hates the price of petrol and recently the supermarkets have been waging a price war which has brought the price down in some areas.  If you asked everyone in the country if they thought petrol was too expensive I would say the vast majority of people would say yes, with those saying no employed directly or indirectly by companies profiting from the high prices or the government.

Try to get those people to stop using petrol out of protest and you'll find yourself alone in your stand against the system. The government and corporate elites know that the slaves have no spine and that's the real problem.

If you can set up a mass protest over the state of the country then count me in... Problem is I know you'll never be able to do it.

Answer 4

Well Andrew talks the talk.  First we have to know what we are up against, then we need a lot of people agree with us, we need leaders we can trust, then we need a way in which to communicate our message, our phones are bugged, we have CCTVs all over, we can be arrested anytime and held without charge,  Do you think they have anticipated it?.

But yes it can be done.

Answer 5

Yes we could and I hope it won't be too long before we do.

In 1990 we beat the poll tax using exactly that method. The government can't throw all of us in prison and if enough of us simultaneously refuse, we can win. "It is better to break the law than to break the poor". (source 1)

Income tax, etc. would be harder - but we could all just go on strike simultaneously, if there was the will to do this. This happened in Britain in the General Strike of 1926 - but it lasted for only a few days before the union leaders sold out. A general strike poses the question -can't we simply run things ourselves? Can't we have elected representatives to organise our workplaces instead of bosses and can we have workers' representatives in government? (source 2 - click on "What about Russia?")

It has happened before in many countries - Russia 1917, Spain 1936, France 1968, Portugal 1976 (and that is just in Europe) - but the only time workers succeeded in overthrowing the state was in the Russian revolution.

The October 1917 socialist revolution, led by Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolshevik party, was unique - for the first time the capitalist system had been overthrown and a workers' state established. It was based on soviets - committees of workers and soldiers created spontaneously during the revolution to organise activity, that were later to become the organs through which the new society would be built.

Initially the soviets were democratic bodies where strict controls were imposed on elected representatives to prevent them usurping their positions.

To get this we would need:

People to realise the injustice of poverty and have the confidence to do something about it. (I think they already do).

A mass political party able to put forward a programme people would think could succeed - the slogan of the Bolsheviks was "peace, bread and land". They grew from 10,000 members to 100,000 in a single year.

To win over a large section of the army to our position. In the Russian Revolution they were completely disillusioned in fighting because of the First World War and no-one defended the Tsar.

A fighting leadership of the trade unions who would not give up at the first hint of concessions. (We could elect people who would show they would lead a struggle and not be corrupted).

Finally, we would need to spread the struggle internationally to other countries.

If we had all these we could have a revolution. It is a long way off yet, but we are in for some very difficult times and hopefully people will see that the present system of capitalism is not working for the vast majority of Earth's population.

Answer 6

We are too soft in the UK - as soon as petrol goes down a few pence we ease off the pressure on the Govt . We pay about 25% more in Fuel Taxes than the rest of Europe, on average, and should demand a permanent percentage cut.

Answer 7

If you don't want to pay taxes, go to a tax haven. I recommend the Cayman Islands and Kuwait.  The closest one to Britain is Jersey, I think. Hong Kong has low taxes, but it still has them. So does Dubai.