There are many, many small movements that are very, very unhappy with the way the leadership elite and the big corporations are profiting while ordinary people are working hard earning less or are unemployed, or unemployed. This video is about activities in the UK at the end of 2010 and into early 2011.
Peter Burgess

Inside UK Uncut - video

Johnny Howorth spent three months with the group of graduates behind the UK's fastest-growing protest movement

UK Uncut: 'People are starting to listen to us'

Britain's fastest-growing protest movement is to target scores of high street banks in the next stage of its campaign against government cuts and corporate tax avoidance.

Activists from UK Uncut have, over the past five months, caused the temporary closure of more than 100 branches of high street stores accused of avoiding millions of pounds in tax.

The group will stage its first national day of action against UK banks on 19 February.

'The idea this time is not to shut these places down but to open up high street banks, occupying them and using them for things that may be more useful for the community,' said Daniel Garvin from the group.

He and other protesters have mobilised thousands of activists using the Twitter hashtag #UKuncut since the group was formed in October.

The protests, which come as banks reveal multimillion-pound bonus packages over the next few weeks, will involve a range of peaceful – and creative – direct actions.

'If libraries are being closed in their area, people may decide to stage a read-in in the bank,' said Garvin.

'The housing benefit cap means people are losing their homes, so some groups may opt for a sleep-in. Theatres are being shut, so others have talked about staging a play.

'Health provision is being cut, so what about setting up a walk-in clinic? Education funding is being savaged so how about holding a lecture series?'

Garvin said one local group concerned that a swimming pool was under threat was going to set up a paddling pool in a local bank.

The National Audit Office calculated in 2009 that the taxpayer spent £131bn supporting the banking system and the government is facing growing criticism over its failure to tax the banks, rein in excessive bonuses or enforce lending to businesses.

Government efforts to draw a line under the row over bankers suffered another blow on Wednesday when Vince Cable, the business secretary, said he was still determined to end 'unjustified and outrageous' salaries in the sector and his Liberal Democrat ally Lord Oakeshott left the frontbench after damning the government's attempts to curb bonuses.

Garvin said the growing anger over banks was fuelling support for UK Uncut's new campaign.

'It was greed and reckless banking that caused the financial crisis,' he said. 'Now the government is making the political choice to cut public services that will hit the poorest hardest rather than force the banks to change how they operate and repay those who kept them afloat.'

The first UK Uncut day of action will focus on Barclays bank, which is due to reveal how much it is paying in bonuses on 15 February – the day before the latest unemployment figures come out.

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, who last month called for end to the attacks on bankers, is reportedly in line for a £9m payout. 'Barclays is the obvious first target,' said Garvin.

'With its bonuses about to be announced next week and Bob Diamond telling us to forgive and forget, we wanted to give people the chance to have their say on what is going on as the government seems incapable of taking any meaningful action.'

UK Uncut started when a group of friends decided to target Vodafone on 27 October, claiming that the mobile phone company had avoided £6bn in tax, an allegation denied by Vodafone.

The protest, organised through Twitter, went viral and over the next four months hundreds of protests have been organised – targeting a range of high street names, from Topshop and Boots to Tesco. All of these firms are alleged to have avoided hundreds of millions of pounds in tax.

The campaign has seen UK Uncut activists force the issue of corporate tax avoidance into the mainstream political debate, with its members appearing on BBC Newsnight.

There have also been reports that its disclosures have prompted HMRC to launch an inquiry into alleged leaks by its own officials, after companies' private financial details appeared in the press.

UK Uncut says the campaign against corporate tax avoiders will continue. But the decision to focus the next round of protests on banks was taken after a 'Twitter debrief' in late December.

'Hundreds of people were coming through with their comments every minute,' said Garvin.

'We were talking about what had gone well, what had not gone so well, and there was lots of discussion.

'But when the 'what next?' question came up, everybody just said: 'Banks'.'