Arrests at Cambridge Vodafone Shutdown

Three activists were arrested today outside a Cambridge Vodafone store during a peaceful protest against Vodafone's £6bn tax exemption. The arrests were made at approximately 3.00pm this afternoon, as activists leafleting outside Vodafone's central store in the Grand Arcade shopping centre were harassed by security guards and police officers.

Before the Action

Inside the Store

Protesters are dragged out of the store

At 2.00pm on Saturday 6th November, approximately 35 activists from the Cambridge Action Network (CAN) converged on the Vodafone outlet in the Grand Arcade shopping centre, effectively closing it to customers for over an hour. The protesters, holding banners and placards reading “Vodafone – Tax Dodgers” and chanting “Vodafone pay your taxes”, distributed hundreds of leaflets to sympathetic shoppers.

In a departure from similar protests called across the country today by UK Uncut, Cambridge activists targeted a Vodafone store inside the privately owned Grand Arcade shopping centre. Consequently, despite the wholly non-confrontational and peaceful attitude maintained by protesters, private security guards and police officers quickly descended on the protest, demanding that activists leave or face arrest for trespass. The gathering crowd looked on powerless as protesters, selected apparently at random from the group, were arrested and dragged forcibly from the shopping centre. One horrified shopper asked “Why have they arrested these people?”

The protest, along with other protests around the country today, aimed at highlighting the hypocrisy of the coalition government, which is cutting corporate tax at the same time as announcing huge spending cuts across the public sector.

Photos were taken by Miriam Sherwood.

Lizzie

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

Solidarity

06.11.2010 19:00

Solidarity with all those arrested. Much respect to them all.

ARC

Good work but time to move on...

06.11.2010 19:06

There are so many different targets of capital to hit especially the banks and the houses of the rich. Use your heads and move on to the next hit before this one goes stale on you and the support dwindles.

zyx

charged? bail conditions? bust cards?

06.11.2010 19:08

just wondering whether people were charged, whether they were given any bail conditions?

maybe it'd be worth having bust cards at future events?

also, could always find out which station they're taken to, and take the demo there after!

reckon charges will be dropped, but if not, demos shld be called for all the court hearings too... if twitter can do vodafone, it can do it properly...

PeterPannier

@ PeterPannier

06.11.2010 19:12

I got a call from one of those arrested, as far as I know they are still being held and are at Parkside. If people are up for it a solidarity thing sounds good otherwise I'll just sit tight for confirmation of their release.

ARC

All 3 released

06.11.2010 21:38

All three released without charge...bailed to return in the near future I think.

poon

Nice one.

07.11.2010 21:18

"There are so many different targets of capital to hit especially the banks and the houses of the rich. Use your heads and move on to the next hit before this one goes stale on you and the support dwindles."

Conversely, I have been out of the loop for somtime now, and this inspires me. I will be at the next one in my town, if that is anything to go by, I think this could build, and with lot's (myself included) losing work over this, yeah make the fuckers pay.

Nice one.

Fly Poster

"Outside" my arse

08.11.2010 03:25

The photos clearly show that you were "protesting" inside the store, so stop whining about "harassment".

Correction