DUP and Sinn Fein water charges u-turn

antrim | worker & community struggles and protests | other press Monday April 02, 2007 20:18 by non-payer - We Won't Pay Campaign

DUP & SF unite to introduce water charges

The We Won’t Pay Campaign today attacked the DUP and Sinn Fein for announcing that they are to introduce water charges through the Assembly.

Secretary of the non-payment group Gary Mulcahy said “Mitchell McLaughlin and Ian Paisley Jnr.’s comments are a slap in the face of everyone who voted for these parties after being told that they opposed water charges during the elections.”

“The sheer brazenness of these politicians is staggering. Only a few weeks ago these parties claimed they were opposed to water charges but now they have the nerve to say that people will have to pay for the maintenance of our water and sewerage service through water charges. Why do they fail to mention that we already pay for water through the rates? Have the DUP and Sinn Fein all of a sudden contracted a mysterious case of collective amnesia?”

The We Won’t Pay Campaign said that “mass non-payment will teach these gangsters on the hill a lesson if they go ahead and introduce water charges. There is no support for this double-tax in working class communities across Northern Ireland. If they send bills to households they will be met with a mass boycott and the new Minister for Water Charges Conor Murphy will be left with egg on his face.”

UTV interview with Mitchell McLaughlin and Ian Paisley Jnr.
http://u.tv/newsroom/onair.asp?q=hi&pt=&sdate=2/4/2007&f=0.4837719