Taking ownership of action
Like most of the best ideas, Don’t Pay UK was first conceived by some friends sitting around a pub table. It was 2022, and the UK was just starting to peek above the COVID-19 trenches, peering into a No-Man’s Land of rising energy bills and one million people were already in significant energy debt. Something had to be done as the country was rapidly being driven towards a “heat-or-eat” situation. Taking inspiration from the anti-poll tax organising of the late 80s and early 90s, the idea was a simple one: get as many people as possible, from all walks of life, to pledge to stop paying their energy bills. In doing so, we were sending a message that enough was enough. The bill increases, as a result of energy company war profiteering using the war in Ukraine as an excuse, would be challenged with direct action. You want our money? Come and get it.
The government set a date for the 1st October for energy prices caps to go up by £1800 per year, expecting to rise to a total of £3800 per year for the average household by 2023. Barely 80 days after the campaign was launched, we showed how the country thought about that, with pollsters predicting that 3 million people would refuse to pay their bills by October. This included 250,000 people that had signed up to the campaign. A flurry of activity in the months between June and October meant leaflets being posted, stands and pop-up stalls being made, and national and international news organisations reaching as far as Japan interviewing spokespeople. When it came to the 1st October, the cap went up by less than was expected — but it still went up. As a result Don’t Pay UK joined with other groups like Fuel Poverty Action and Extinction Rebellion to organise protests, warm-ups and sit-ins to make sure the government and energy companies didn’t think that throwing us a limp carrot was going to be accepted.
We presented a national image of solidarity and strength with the number of events, posts and interviews we were part of, but the reality was that we were struggling behind the scenes. The 250,000 people were being organised by a rotating gallery of between 15-20 — and that was on a good day. A skeleton crew of people spent hours of their free time every week, taking no pay, in order to keep the train rolling down the track. Thankfully some autonomous groups popped up here and there, taking the pressure off, but we could only go so far. After being a part of large events, being interviewed for international press, being named in a memo to Number 10 from some of the largest energy companies in the world as “an existential threat” to the industry, we eventually didn’t have the energy to keep going. We decided to quit whilst we were ahead, and before it could just fizzle out. We were proud of what we had accomplished. We wish we could have done more.
People get involved in these campaigns for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it’s family, friends, or solidarity. I think it’s fair to say that we all do it because we believe that something has to be done, even if we don’t quite know what when we start. In fact, even just joining a mailing list, or posting an image or message of solidarity can sometimes give the catharsis we need.
That can be the problem.
Joining a campaign is just the first step, and it’s one that a lot of people stop at. Having more people joining is great, of course, and the membership ticker going up certainly makes us feel like we are part of something that could really go somewhere. Without action, though, we risk losing that momentum. In fact, it can hinder it. Seeing a high number of people being part of something, but hearing nothing from it, can make the campaign seem like it’s dead, or that the task is too difficult to beat.
To be clear: there is nothing an organised, well informed population can’t do. Think of the sheer number of examples of collective action achieving real rewards. The Suffragettes getting women the vote, the Poll Tax protests forcing it to be dropped, and, in more recent time, same-sex marriage becoming legal after tireless work from LGBT+ activists. These campaigns were shaped, not by a few, but by the many. The more people that get involved, the more diverse and fluid the campaign can be. It becomes something more powerful as the voice gets louder and appeals to more people, unhappy with the state of things. The media begin taking attention, allowing the message to reach and inform, spurring others on to join in. Active members post leaflets, speak in local meetings, hold pop-up events to speak to the public. It gives us strength. It gives people confidence. It gives those that feel like something must be done, a way to really fight for it. Without a diverse range of voices and actions, we cannot hope to capture the strength of the people around us.
Governments will always look for a way to dismiss campaigns. If they see people organising, they quickly seek to divide. When Don’t Pay UK was starting to gain traction, a spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy called us “highly irresponsible” and stated that we “would push up the prices for everyone else”. Not a great argument, considering the entire campaign was pushing against rising prices! This sort of union-busting-type language easily succeeds in an inactive group. The scaremongering mixed with a lack of perceived gain can turn people away. But it only adds fuel to the fire in a cohort of a large campaign in motion. We’re hurting the population? Look around you: there are so many more of us than you.
If we truly want to achieve change, it’s up to all of us to be willing to be in the effort to be involved. It doesn’t take much, I promise! Leafleting, making stalls, suggesting events, getting some media training; these are all great. Even just attending meetings is a great way to tip your toe in and have your voice heard. Then we get to the really fun stuff. The best campaigns are those where the activists are independent. Setting up your own group in your area is a fantastic exercise. In Don’t Pay, we often had groups of only a few people, but their diligent work meant more support and more chances of us achieving our goals. You can organise around local issues: perhaps there is local sewage dumping you can bring attention to. Maybe people are struggling with bills. A proud moment for us during the colder days of Don’t Pay was helping to organise Warm-Ups — places for those living in fuel poverty to go and get warm and have a cup of tea for a few hours. All these things do something real to help the people most affected.
Activism is the action of doing something to help a community struggling to cope. That community might be big or small, but it’s true what they say: every little helps. You have the power to change things, to work towards a better future, and so long as we work together there is nothing we cannot do.
Don’t just stay on the first step. Help us all climb to the top so we can enjoy the view together.