Make Them Pay demand 'champagne-guzzling billionaires' pay up

Activists from the Make Them Pay coalition have projected message onto the Houses of Parliament to demand the Labour Party government make the super rich cough up their fair share.

Time to tax the super rich: projections on parliament

On Wednesday 20 August, activists sent a clear message to the government to “Protect workers, not billionaires” and “Tax the super rich”:

Activists made sure to tell the government in no uncertain terms that it’s time to “Make them pay”:

Direct action group Climate Resistance coordinated the stunt as part of the Make Them Pay coalition campaign. It comes in advance of a major mobilisation the coalition is coordinating in central London for 20 September. It expects to draw tens of thousands of people to the streets.

Climate Resistance spokesperson Sam Simons said:

Champagne-guzzling, private jet-owning billionaires are profiting from hardship, plundering the resources of communities around the world, and trashing our planet for profit. We’re facing a climate emergency and runaway poverty, because the super rich are treating the world as their playground. It’s time to abolish billionaires, redistribute their ill-gotten wealth, and fund urgent climate action.

As we gear up for the Autumn Budget, this government has a simple choice: tax the super-rich and invest in climate action, or cosy up to Nigel Farage and chuck future generations under the billionaire bus. Join Make Them Pay on 20th September and make sure they make the right choice.

Uniting against big billionaire polluters

The Make Them Pay coalition aims to bring together a diverse coalition of groups from the climate justice, trade union, and social justice movements. They will unite in a call for increased action from the UK government. The coalition will demand that it accelerate a green transition with justice for communities, workers, and the planet at its core.

The rally will add to the variety of mass mobilisations and protests groups are planning in London that week. These will be targeting Trump during second state visit.

Global Justice Now’s campaigns and policy manager Izzie McIntosh said:

From climate change to global trade, this government seems intent on protecting billionaires and destructive corporations over working people. The economy is broken, the climate is collapsing and many of us are looking to the future – or even the end of the month – with fear.

The money is there to protect us all, but it is currently concentrated in the hands of a staggeringly wealthy few. Our message to Keir Starmer is to be brave enough to make them pay, and rebuild society for the people who keep it running, not the rich and powerful.

Billionaires are ‘breaking Britain’: enough is enough, say Make Them Pay

350.org’s head of public engagement Namrata Chowdhary added:

Billionaires are breaking Britain, in the same way they have been wrecking the world. From the devastating floods in Asia to the wildfires across Europe, the impacts of climate inaction are hitting communities everywhere. Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies continue their vandalism unchecked. It’s time to draw the line under this unfair and extractive system, that lines the pockets of the super-wealthy while fuelling the many crises we are living through today. We need urgent solutions, including a tax on extreme wealth, so that those who are most responsible for this destruction are held accountable. A fair tax on billionaires’ disproportionate wealth can free up the funds we need, and help secure justice for people and the planet.”

Echoing this, Tyrone Scott, senior movement building and activism Officer at War on Want, said:

Last year, UK billionaires pocketed an extra £35 million every single day, while families skipped meals, food banks were overwhelmed, and climate disasters intensified. This is the injustice we refuse to accept. It’s time to make the super-rich, corporations and polluters pay their fair share, so we can rebuild a society that works for people and the planet, not billionaires.

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