Key passage from article:
There were rumours of siege towers and stage invasions. But in the end, Art Uncut's much-hyped U2 protest proved somewhat less seismic: an 8m-high balloon – inscribed with the slogan "U Pay Your Tax 2" (geddit?) – that was ripped down by security almost as soon as it was inflated on Friday. Standing a few metres away, I was surprised and disheartened. It's not that the ensuing scuffles were serious (although one protester ended up with a broken finger), but they left a sour taste. Stamping on good-natured direct action so aggressively seemed at odds with the supposedly progressive values of the festival.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. This year's event was built up as the year Glasto got its political mojo back, with the U2 protest slated as emblematic of this change. Festival-founder Michael Eavis had sounded excited, calling politics the thing that "gives Glastonbury soul and gives it back its purpose". On the day of the protest itself, he called the festival "socialism with a small s", saying that Glastonbury-goers "walk the talk, rather than just talk the talk". It's not that Art Uncut's argument – that U2 shouldn't be offshoring their tax burden when a) their Irish compatriots are up the economic spout, and b) their lead singer Bono is petitioning western politicians to increase overseas aid – would have persuaded everyone, but it was expected it would get a hearing.
[UPDATE: Thanks to Dave Marsh's ROCK AND RAP CONFIDENTIAL for posting this article:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/news/home-news/glastonbury-guards-deflate-u2-protest-1.1108489
From the article:
Against the background of escalating opposition to the government’s spending cuts, the Art Uncut activists are posing an uncomfortable question: why are ordinary people being asked to endure painful cuts in public services, while rock stars, sportsmen and businessmen manage to avoid paying billions of pounds in taxes, albeit legally?
For the protesters, U2 are just one high-profile symbol. They are one of the world’s biggest rock bands, fronted by Bono, a man almost as famous for trying to persuade world leaders to make poverty history as for his music.
But by arranging their business so it does not incur tax bills in their home country of Ireland, the members of U2 stand accused, along with other celebrities and multinational corporations, of depriving governments of money to pay for schools, hospitals and other crucial public services.
The total sums of money involved are enormous. The official estimate of how much tax is missing from UK coffers was £42 billion in 2008-09. But many experts suggest the real amount could be £120bn.
To put that into context: the UK’s total public spending last year was £669bn, and the government wants to cut some £81bn over the next four years. Scotland’s budget is £35bn.
U2 moved part of their business empire to a finance house in Holland (where there is no direct tax on royalties) in 2006 after the Irish government capped a tax exemption on royalties earned from the sale and performance of their work for artists.
The band is among the world’s highest-earning musicians, reportedly earning the equivalent of about £80 million last year.
Charlie Dewar from Art Uncut said U2’s tax move “is depriving the Irish people at a time when they desperately need income to offset the Irish government’s savage austerity programme”.
He added: “There is also a whiff of hypocrisy here with Bono being so well-known for his anti-poverty campaigning, since each year developing countries lose more in tax avoidance … than they receive in aid.”]
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