£35,000 Migrant Money Burning

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All images © Jess Hurd

Images available to licence contact: jess@jesshurd.com

This morning, activists from Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants burned £ 35k of fake bank notes printed with the face of home secretary Theresa May in protest over a new law coming into force today that will force thousands of non-EU migrants, who earn less than £35k a year, to leave the UK. The activists dressed in black clothes and pink veils ceremonially burned the money as part of what they called a “symbolic exorcism of the Home Office’s fixation on money and disregard for the suffering it inflicts on ordinary people”. 

The new law means that people from outside the EU who are in the UK on a work visa and have been in the country for more than six years will be deported. The Home Office estimates this will cost taxpayers between £181 million and £575 million. The law has been criticised by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats and the NUT have condemned the law for hitting many of their members worsening the recruitment crisis in schools. Only last month Teresa May was heavily criticised for having illegally deporting up to 50,000 students.

The average salary in the UK has been estimated at £25,600 by the Office of National Statistics. But if you exclude the top 10 % of earners, the average is about £12,800. In contrast, Theresa May takes home more than £145k a year. 

Sam Bjorn from Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants said: “With this new law, the Home Office clearly shows that they value money over ordinary people. We’re outraged that people who’ve been running essential services will face deportation.”

Alex Williams from Lesbians and Gays Support the migrants said: “The government is creating a divided society where something as essential as the freedom of movement and the right to work is dictated by the size of your paycheque. We have come a long way in terms on stopping discrimination against people based on sexuality – why should we now discriminate based on how much money people take home each month?”