Quaker grandmother faces losing house over council tax protest against fossil fuel investments

Vigil outside Buckinghamshire Council

A Quaker grandmother with incurable cancer faces losing her home after a judge ruled Buckinghamshire Council could place a charging order on her property.

Dr Jane McCarthy, 74, of Amersham Quaker Meeting, appeared at Reading County Court on Tuesday, 1 July, after withholding her council tax for more than three years in protest against the council's continued fossil fuel investments.

"I want to contribute to local services through my taxes, but I am being asked to hand over money that will be used in ways that are destroying life on earth and creating wars around the world," she said.

Dr McCarthy says the ball is in the council's court after Tuesday's critical hearing resulted in a Final Charging Order on her home.

"The order could just sit on the deeds to my property, or the council could return to court to force a sale on my house. It is up to them," she said.

Buckinghamshire Council's management of public money helps finance fossil fuels through its pension fund investment decisions and its banking with Barclays, despite having declared a climate emergency.

The court ruling comes as Parliament debates a Pension Schemes Bill that campaigners see as a crucial opportunity to require local authority pension funds to invest sustainably.

UK pensions currently invest £88 billion in fossil fuels, which campaigners warn endangers both planet and pension savings while worsening working life for everyone.

"Buckinghamshire Council are being reckless with the pensions they manage," said Dr McCarthy. "You can't retire in a world on fire.

"Continued investment in fossil fuels carries major climate risks, along with financial risks for pension fund holders.

"Local authorities must show leadership in shifting their investments away from climate destruction."

Remarkably, the judge reduced the legal costs by 75 per cent to £1,000.

Dr McCarthy said she is considering a complaint against Buckinghamshire Council over what she describes as aggressive tactics that did not follow their own procedures.

"I was faced with costs I couldn't have predicted and with no chance to mitigate them," she said.

She fears that any move to force the sale of her home could leave her lodger homeless and seriously impact her daughter.

Her civil disobedience forms part of a wider campaign calling for the council to divest from fossil fuel assets and adopt policies that protect a liveable future.

The campaign has included petitions, committee attendance, and correspondence. Dr McCarthy remains the only resident who has sustained a tax boycott as part of this campaign.

Her case has already passed through four Magistrates' Court hearings.