An 82 year-old vicar is ready to spend time behind bars after refusing to pay his Council Tax in protest over the changes to the welfare system, which he says are punishing the poorest people in his community. Revd Paul Nicholson, from Tottenham, stopped his payments to Haringey Council and is due in court tomorrow. The father-of-five, who has nine grandchildren, faces arrears and costs of over £1,000. However, he's still refusing to pay in protest over the benefit cuts. He wants Haringey Council to restore Council Tax benefit for claimants (both in and out of work) and he wants the Government to reverse the cap on benefits. Revd Nicholson believes this is the most effective way for him to highlight the plight of the poor and says he will go to prison for his beliefs.
Speaking on Premier's News Hour he says he believes his actions are morally justifiable:
This isn't the first time Revd Nicholson has made a stand like this. In the 1980's he also refused to Pay Poll Tax on moral grounds, but it was paid by his diocese.
He claims the cuts to benefits are much worse than the Poll Tax and argues civil disobedience is justified when the law is "morally indefensible".
In 1997, he founded the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, which was set up to help those who were in debt and to address the causes of poverty by lobbying for improvements to the legal and benefits system. He withdrew as Chair of the Trust earlier this year to run the organisation 'Taxpayers Against Poverty'. The changes to the benefits system for people aged between 16 and 64 in England, Scotland and Wales sees a single person with no dependants now only being able to claim £350 a week. A couple with or without dependants, or a lone parent with dependants will receive £500. The government says the cap should mean that no family gets more than the average working family income of £26,000 a year.
The Department of Work and Pensions said it will save £110m this year and £185m next year.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith said:
"The cap is about changing people's lives, ensuring that if you don't want to be capped you go to work and that's the key thing that we are now seeing which is numbers of people are going back to work in the pilot areas and we believe that is to do with the cap.
"Returning fairness to the welfare state in this country is long overdue. We will always be there to support those who need help, but the days of blank cheque benefits are over and the benefit cap is a key part of this.
"We need a system that no longer traps people in a cycle of dependency and is fair for the hardworking taxpayers who fund it.
"Seventy years after Beveridge helped establish Britain's welfare state, we are restoring public trust in it.
"We are ensuring it is there as a safety net for those who need it but that no-one can claim more than the average household earns in work."
Tomorrow, Revd Nicholson will tell the court he will not pay a penny of the money he owes until Haringey Council restores 100% Council Tax benefit for claimants and the Government stops the benefit caps.