BRIT WAR PROTESTOR: NO TAXES

[David S]

What is your opinion of this man? Is this a case of the individual vs the big government juggernaut, David vs Goliath or just a tax cheat? Freedom fighter or horrible person?

BRIT WAR PROTESTOR: NO TAXES
Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com

How can you express your opposition to war? For at least one retired British businessman, the answer was: stop paying taxes!

According to a Breitbart story, Douglas Barker, 73, father of five, grandfather of 19 and proprietor of an organic farm, was recently in court, for deducting 10 percent of his tax assessment to protest the deployment of British soldiers in Iraq, which he calls an "illegal" war. "I have said I am very happy to pay the tax I owe," he reportedly told the court, "provided they give me assurances that it will not be used for illegal purposes. I feel we were led into an illegal war on a false pretext, and being forced to help pay for something illegal is a violation of my human rights."

Barker will go to prison if he persists in refusing to pay the 1,142 pounds (about $US 2,000) he allegedly owes the Inland Revenue. Meanwhile, the story said, tax officials may seek authorization to seize his property to cover the alleged debt. Barker intends, along with his 65-year-old wife, "to continue deducting 10 percent from their taxes until they have proof that not a single penny of their money will be used to support British troops in Iraq." - ST

staff reports - Free-Market News Network


http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=7056

[GOP = Terrorists]

Freedom Fighter.  As long as he is willing to go to prison for those beliefs.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Freedom Fighter

[MODU]

Neither.  But soon he'll be a convicted criminal. 

[MasterJedi]

I voted Horrible Person, if he doesn't like it, go somewhere else or Iraq and fight against them!

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Horrible Person

[Democratic Hawk]

Can once, just once, can someone who objects to the Iraq War come up with some better rationale than it's "illegal". It's getting somewhat tiresome . Every day you get the same trite in the papers, etc

Protestor: This war is illegal

Hawk: How's it illegal?

Protestor: Because Kofi Annan says it is

Hawk dismissively and walks away. Correct me, if I'm wrong, but wasn't Saddam Hussein in breach of existing UN Security Council Resolutions? Not that the spineless UN matters much to me at all these days

Dave

[Peter]

This has happened before, and to somebody with a passing connection to me. The grandmother of a close friend of mine, both at school and Uni, withheld 7% of her income tax, claiming that it was in fact to be used to fund the MoD. To her credit, she gave the 7% to an Iraq charity instead.

This ultimately went to trial and got a fair bit of coverage but midway through the trial the tax debt was paid and so no penalties were levelled. Interestingly it wasn't her that paid the debt and it was never publically disclosed who did, but I reckon it was my friend's father, but he denies it was him.