|
UK
Casino Times
> Casino
News
06 August 2005
Tax Protesters Win Lotto
Cash
Lottery
bosses are defending a decision to award a grant of nearly
£5,000 to a militant group of elderly council tax
campaigners. Devon
Pensioners' Action Forum
- which has run a high-profile campaign, particularly in
Exeter, against council tax rises and called for more
generous pensions - has been handed £4,837 by the
Awards
for All
fund.
Pensioners with the group
have appeared in court in recent years for refusing to pay
all their council taxes.
And Exeter campaigner
Sylvia Hardy, among the most prominent members of the group,
is set to go to prison for refusing to pay all the
charge.
The 73-year-old was given
a 56-day suspended committal order in June by city
magistrates to pay her outstanding tax of
£63.71.
If she does not settle the
bill, she will be sent to jail for seven days later this
month.
Awards for All - a lottery
grants scheme aimed at local communities which awards grants
of between £500 and £5,000 - is not permitted to
issue cash to political groups.
But it said it was well
within its rights to give the campaign group lottery
money.
According to the scheme,
the grant has been awarded to allow the DPAF to set up an
administrative section to help it create and send out its
newsletter.
Lottery Awards for All
senior awards officer Steve Barriball said: "We are able to
fund organisations such as the Devon Pensioners' Action
Forum.
"The group is a forum for
older people in Devon and provides information to its
members on a range of issues."
Albert Venison, chairman
of the forum, said: "Some people may criticise us for
receiving this lottery grant, but how else are we supposed
to get funding?
"We have in the past
applied for funding from other sources but they have turned
us down by saying we are a campaigning
organisation.
"Although we are a
campaign group we are non-party political. We have members
who are members of a number of political parties.
"We have Labour
supporters, Conservative supporters and UKIP
supporters.
"The purpose of our
campaigning is to try to give older people a better quality
of life by having better pensions and lower council
taxes."
As well as carrying out a
council tax non-payment campaign, the group has also
organised protests and taken its calls for lower council
taxes to the Prime Minister.
Play
Online At Spin Palace Casino - Get £75 FREE - Click
Here
Related pages:
Canal
Gets Lotto Money
Also see:
UK
Online Casinos
Reviews of the leading, approved UK online casinos. Includes
details of the free money welcome bonuses offered to new
players by the online casinos.
Online
Casinos Guide
New to online casinos? We take you through the process in a
friendly, easy-going way.
CasinoTimes.co.uk
is updated every day with the latest online casino and
gambling news.
Click
Here
to bookmark us and check us out daily!
Return
to UK Casino News index
|
