Anti-water charges campaigners today hit back against calls for the introduction of the controversial household water tax.

Pat Lawlor, spokesperson for the We Won’t Pay Campaign criticised a report from the First Trust Bank which has called on the Assembly to impose water charges on households. Read the rest of this entry »

Threat of water charges will be met with mass boycott

The anti-water charges We Won’t Pay Campaign has responded to speculation that water charges may be introduced next year by warning the Northern Ireland Executive that they “will be met with mass civil disobedience if water charges are imposed on people.”

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Anti-water charges campaigners reacted to yesterday’s announcement from the Northern Ireland Executive that water charges are to be deferred for another year by calling for water charges to be scrapped rather than delayed.

Gary Mulcahy, speaking on behalf of the We Won’t Pay Campaign explained “It is disappointing that the NI Executive has only announced the deferral of water charges. This means that water bills will be sent to people’s homes in April 2010. People are already struggling to pay the bills with soaring increases in energy costs. Another bill in the form of water charges is not acceptable, especially since we already pay for water through our rates.

“People have not forgotten what the politicians said when they came looking for votes during last years Assembly elections. They then claimed to oppose water charges, but now it seems they are prepared to introduce them in 2010.

“The We Won’t Pay Campaign has not gone away and we will continue to build opposition to water charges until they are scrapped once and for all. Our call for mass non-payment of water charges still has huge support in communities and if water charges are not scrapped the Executive will face a mass boycott of these deeply unpopular charges.”

Water service needs to be taken out of hands of Northern Ireland Water

Bosses from the private sector only interested in making profits, not a quality water service

The We Won’t Pay Campaign has called on the Northern Ireland Executive to intervene and bring the water service fully back into public ownership after a further 300 job losses were announced by the company.

Spokesperson Gary Mulcahy added “Bosses from the private sector were brought in to destroy our water service as part of a long-term plan to eventually privatise the water service. Part of that process was to cut jobs, which will undoubtedly lead to a worse service.

“Now that the Assembly has been forced to abandon water charges due to mass support for our campaign to boycott water charges, they should bring the water service fully back into the public sector. Northern Ireland Water is a private company in law and being run as a private company. But it is being publicly funded. The trade unions representing water service workers also need to prepare to whatever industrial action is necessary in order to stop the job losses.”

‘Water charges should now be scrapped’ - We Won’t Pay Campaign

First Minister Peter Robinson, addressing a meeting of business people today in Coleraine, announced plans to defer water charges for the fourth year in a row.

According to Gary Mulcahy of the anti-water charges We Won’t Pay Campaign:

“News that water charges will not be delivered to homes next April is to be welcomed. The Northern Ireland Executive seems to have acknowledged that it is now impossible for them to successfully implement water charges next April, especially when families are being hit with soaring food, electricity and gas bills.

“They have failed to answer our arguments over water charges and have failed to win any support in the communities. The reality is if they attempt to send water bills to households next April, our campaign of non-payment would gain huge support.

“The idea that water charges are desperately needed is now seen as farcical. We would urge the public to now increase the pressure on the political parties in power to finally scrap water charges for good. The We Won’t Pay Campaign will continue to fight until the Executive abandons it’s water charges agenda.”

Anti-water charges campaigners have responded to recent speculation on a possible new financial package for Northern Ireland by calling on the public to step up the pressure on the Assembly Executive to finally scrap water charges.

Spokesperson for the We Won’t Pay Campaign Gary Mulcahy today stated “The reason the Northern Ireland Executive is looking for a financial package is due to the mass opposition which exists in every local community to water charges.”

“The Assembly has nervously prevaricated for more than a year now over the introduction water charges. Talk of deferring water bills for a fourth year in a row further discredits this entire fiasco. The Executive should now remove the uncertainty which exists by announcing the scrapping of water charges once and for all. That would be the most democratic outcome.”

The We Won’t Pay Campaign will be encouraging the public to contact their local representatives to demand that they join the chorus calling for the scrapping of water charges.

Our answer: DON’T PAY!

THE ASSEMBLY Executive is set to impose water charges in April 2009. Householders will face water bills of up to £775 next year rising to £950 the year after. That is even higher than what direct rule Ministers were looking for!
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Legal bombshell causes funding crisis for Northern Ireland Water
The long-running controversial plan to introduce water charges has taken a dramatic new twist after a Department of Finance Personnel official has admitted that water charges cannot be collected through the rates on behalf of Northern Ireland Water Ltd.
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Tell the politicians… NO TO WATER CHARGES

THE DECISION of the Assembly Executive to introduce water charges next April has aroused enormous anger. After claiming they would oppose water charges if elected to the Assembly, all the parties in the Executive have turned on the people and are now determined to bring them in.

The politicians in Stormont are trying to justify the introduction of water charges by claiming that we won’t be paying twice for water. Finance Minister Peter Robinson claims that by freezing the regional rate for the next three years, this means water charges won’t be a double tax. But this is a con. We already pay for water through the rates. Direct rule ministers like Peter Hain lied that we didn’t pay, but now we have proved that we do pay. Even the politicians in the Assembly have been forced to recognise this fact. The introduction of water charges by the Assembly Executive will be an extra charge on top of what we already pay in the rates. There will be NO reduction in rates. Water charges will be an additional tax, on top of what we already pay in our rates. So water charges will still be a double tax.

The con artists in Stormont will try to spin some convoluted explanation for water charges, but it won’t wash. Working people are already paying more than enough. Rates have ballooned in recent years. The regional rate has risen by a massive 62% in the past five years alone. The political parties on every district council across the North have just announced further increases in the district rates. Moyle Council has announced increases of 9.4%, Ballymena up by 9.85% and Antrim District Council has topped the chart with a 9.88% hike in district rates. Wages and pensions sure haven’t seen similar increases. Once water charges are introduced, they will continue to rise year after year. This was the experience after water charges were introduced in Britain. Bills soared by 50% in the first four years. But why wait until the charges are introduced? According to the new bosses of Northern Ireland Water, due to a ‘miscalculation’, they have had to admit that water charges will be 15% more expensive than originally intended, even before they’re introduced!

The recent publication of the Strand Two report from the water review panel proposes that every household should pay water charges, even those dependent on benefits. In contrast to how they treat the poorest households, they propose a cap on water charges for the rich. A maximum cap on water charges will apply for those living in homes worth over £400,000. In practice, this means that any increases in water charges will apply to those struggling to get by on the minimum wage but there will never be any increase in water charges for millionaires!

The best response to the lies of the politicians in the Executive that they would oppose water charges when elected to the Assembly is to build the We Won’t Pay Campaign in every estate, in every village, town and city. By standing united in opposition, people power can succeed in scrapping the unjust water charges.

The We Won’t Pay Campaign has announced that the unexpected threat of water bills increasing by 15% next year is a warning of what will happen year after year unless the charges are defeated.

Pat Lawlor, secretary of the anti-water charges campaign, said “We have continuously warned that once water charges are introduced, bills will escalate year after year which will financially cripple thousands of households. We have seen the experience already in Britain, where water charges soared by 50% in the first four years of the introductionof water charges. This year, bills will increase by 18% on average in April, some areas will see water bills go up by 25%.”

The We Won’t Pay Campaign also attacked the “political parties who claimed to oppose water charges when seeking election to the Assembly but are now clearly preparing to stab the people in the back by imposing charges next April.”

The group also demanded that the “water service be brought fully back into public ownership and democratically run in the interests of the public, and not as a potential source of profits as the directors of Northern Ireland Water Ltd. want.”