By Daniel Waldron,
On a Daily Politics discussion on the economy in the run up to the election, Finance Minister Sammy Wilson of the DUP made it crystal clear that, in his opinion, the Assembly Executive will introduce water charges. He admitted that the charges have only been deferred, not scrapped, and went on to say that “when they are introduced” it must be on the basis of “fairness”.
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Assembly parties attacked for planning to impose water charges

The parties in Stormont were today accused by anti-water charges campaigners of attempting to widen the gap between rich and poor for “planning to introduce household water charges while seeking to cut taxes for big business”. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t pay Water Charges

By Pat Lawlor, We Won’t Pay Campaign Monday, April 2010

The sacking of four bosses of NI Water for overseeing corrupt links with private companies is further proof that privatisation is central to the water charges agenda. Read the rest of this entry »

To their disgrace, the parties in the Assembly Executive are attempting to bully householders into accepting water charges with the threat of even further cuts to public services. It is being peddled that the cuts to public services are because householders are not paying water charges. This is a lie and the facts speak for themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

The politicians in the Assembly are now openly speaking about imposing water charges on householders. This additional bill will be in the region of £400 a year - but once they are introduced, like electricity prices, they will increase.

Householders already pay for water through our rates. The introduction of water charges will be a double-tax. People are already crippled with high bills. Rising unemployment and wage cuts have seen ordinary peoples incomes savaged, and now the MLA’s in Stormont want to take more out of our pockets.

The introduction of water charges has nothing to do with investment in the water service - it is part of the process of privatisation of the service. Once charges are established, it opens the door to private companies to take over to make profits.

100,000 say ‘WE WONT PAY!’
The We Won’t Pay Campaign has successfully built mass support for non-payment of water charges since 2003. So far, over 100,000 people have signed our non-payment pledge. This campaign has been responsible for forcing the British Government and the Assembly to defer water charges for the past 4 years. This has saved every household hundreds of pounds.

Water charges can be defeated through a mass boycott. The poll tax in Britain was defeated through mass non-payment and water charges were defeated in Southern Ireland in the 1990’s as a result of a mass non-payment campaign. It is not a criminal offence to refuse to pay water charges. An organised mass non-payment campaign will force the politicians to scrap water charges.

Join the campaign

There are lots of things individuals can do to help build support for the We Won’t Pay Campaign. Can you leaflet your street /estate / college / workplace? Can you ask your local shops to display a poster advertising the campaign? Can you get others in your community to help you promote our campaign?

Contact us on 02890311778 or e-mail: wewontpay@bntconnect.com

There is no end to the antics of the bosses of the partly privatised water company NI Water. After wasting millions on miscalculating the revenue flow expected from domestic water charges, and introducing cuts to the service, they now claim they will have to pay out up to £3m in order to alter a contract with Steria, one of the private companies involved in the water service. NI Water boss William Duddy had the nerve to claim “it will be value for taxpayers”. Yet another reason not to pay water charges!

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.”