Gran faces jail over tax protest

Court orders grandmother to pay her taxes

A grandmother who is refusing to pay her taxes in protest against the Iraq war says she is prepared to go to jail.

Former English teacher Brenda Broughton has been given just 28 days to pay £310 by an Oxford County Court judge.

The 78-year-old mother-of-three, of Plantation Road, Oxford, withheld the cash on the grounds she believed it would be used for an "immoral war".

This is not about defence, it's about invading or struggles with other countries. Grandmother Brenda Broughton

The court has ordered the grandmother-of-four to pay the outstanding funds plus £50 costs, following a county court hearing.

Mrs Broughton, said: "I won't pay. I'll never pay, that's my stance. It's very unlikely I will go to jail as it's a civil, not a criminal matter. But others have done in the past, and I would if I have to."

She added: "I am a Christian. But how can we talk about 'loving thy neighbour' one minute while plotting to kill him the next?

"We have to learn that wars are not heroic, they are something to be ashamed of, a sign of weakness and failure."

Defiant pacifist

A member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament for 35 years, Mrs Broughton, who is also a member of peace tax campaigners Conscience, said she estimated the amount of her tax used by the Ministry of Defence.

She said: "I'm a pacifist, but I didn't start life as one, but as you learn more about the world you realise it's the way to go, we have to learn to get on with other people. So I've dug my toes in over this.

"This is not about defence, it's about invading or struggles with other countries," she said.

Deputy district Judge Robin Mitchell said Mrs Boughton had no legal argument for non-payment.

The Inland Revenue said although she had a right to her views she could not control what her taxes paid towards and imprisonment could be used as a last resort.