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Londra Gazete, 09 June 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 5

Cineworld cancels The Lady of Heaven Warning over use of credit
film screenings after protests

CINEWORLD has cancelled all UK ple protested against the film out- cards to cover payments
screenings of a film about the daugh- side the cinema earlier this week, the
ter of the Prophet Muhammad, after newspaper reported.
it prompted protests outside some The Muslim news site 5Pillars also YOUNG shoppers risk building up
cinemas. shared a picture on Twitter of what it debts by borrowing money to make
The cinema chain said it made the said showed 200 Muslims protesting buy now pay later repayments, Citi-
decision "to ensure the safety of our against the film outside a Birming- zens Advice says.
staff and customers". ham branch of Cineworld on Sunday. Half of 18 to 34-year-olds used dif-
More than 120,000 people have The film's executive producer, Ma- ferent types of credit - such as credit
signed a petition for The Lady of lik Shlibak, said he welcomed people cards or borrowing from family - to
make the payments, it said.
Heaven film to be pulled from UK expressing their views but said cin- Although the results were drawn
cinemas. emas should "stand up and defend from a survey, the charity said the
The Bolton Council of Mosques their right to show films that people answers highlighted the issue of
called the film "blasphemous" and want to see". people relying on one debt to cover
sectarian. "I think cinemas are crumbling to another.
But House of Lords peer Baroness the pressure, and taking these deci- Changes are being made that make
Claire Fox called the decision "disas- sions to quell the noise," he told the some of these debts clearer to lend-
trous for the arts [and] dangerous Guardian. ers.
for free speech", while Health Sec- Speaking to TalkTV on Wednes- Buy now pay later has become a
retary Sajid Javid said he was "very day, Mr Javid said: "I am very con- commonplace method of payment
concerned about the growing cancel cerned about the growing cancel cul- and credit for UK shoppers in recent later during the past 12 months. er debt.
years. It allows people to pay for pur-
culture" in the UK. ture in this country. There's people chases in instalments over a short- It found that most (52%) made "What scares me most is how easi-
In an email to Cineworld, reported out there who think they have a right term fixed-payment schedule, and repayments from their current ac- ly people can slip into using it. They
by the Bolton News, the chairman not to be offended and of course, no- interest-free. count, but 23% used a credit card, come to rely on it much more quickly
of the Bolton Council of Mosques, one has that right. Some 17 million people in the UK, 9% used a bank overdraft, and 7% than other forms of credit. It's just
Asif Patel, said the film was "under- "You might not like what some- including 30% of those aged in their borrowed from friends and family. a few clicks at a checkout. Too often
pinned with a sectarian ideology" one's got to say, but they have a right 20s, have used it. While popular, it Millie Harris, a debt adviser at that means people don't realise how
and "misrepresents orthodox histor- to say it." has led to concerns over levels and Citizens Advice in East Devon, said: serious it is - that it is credit and
ical narratives and disrespects the He pointed out that there are visibility of debt - particularly as "Most of the people I speak to who there are consequences if they don't
most esteemed individuals of Islam- no blasphemy laws in the UK and budgets are squeezed by the rising are using buy now pay later live off repay it."
ic history". warned that would be "an incredibly cost of living. overdrafts and credit cards, so are One in 10 people in the survey said
It came after more than 100 peo- dangerous road to go down". Citizens Advice surveyed 2,288 using these for repayments. It is just they did not fully understand how re-
people who had used buy now pay relying on one debt to pay off anoth- payments would be set up.

Thousands of railway workers

hold 3-day-strike

TENS of thousands of railway certs, Test match cricket and the gotiations, the rail industry, with
workers are to stage three days of Glastonbury festival. the support of the government,
national strikes later this month, has failed to take their concerns
in what their union says will be Union members voted over- seriously.
the biggest walkout since 1989. whelmingly for action last month “We have a cost of living crisis,
Members of the RMT at Net- amid growing dissatisfaction over and it is unacceptable for rail-
work Rail and across 13 train pay and job losses. The RMT said way workers to either lose their
operators will take action on 21, rail staff who had worked through jobs or face another year of a pay
Study: Quarter of gamblers have 23 and 25 June. The first date co- the pandemic were facing pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1
incides with a separate 24-hour freezes as well as hundreds of job
per cent and rising...”
The union said more than
increased habit over past year RMT strike on London Under- cuts. 50,000 railway workers would be
RMT general secretary Mick
ground.
Together, the walkouts threat- Lynch said: “Railway workers involved in the action on 21 June,
A quarter of gamblers have in- On average, under 35s who en travel chaos for commuters, as have been treated appallingly, and that the other dates would
creased their habit over the last gamble spend £43 a month but well as for those attending con- and despite our best efforts in ne- disrupt the national railway net-
year, with those aged under 35 one in six (22%) spend more than work for the entire week. Accord-
three times as likely to be spend- £75 a month. ing to the RMT, it will be “the big-
ing more, according to research. One in 12 (8%) spend more gest dispute on the network since
Almost half (46%) of all un- than £100, costing them at least 1989”.
der-35s are now gamblers, with £1,200 a year, the survey found. The transport secretary, Grant
one in three of them (30%) ad- On average, 58% of people with Shapps, said: “It is incredibly dis-
mitting their habit has increased a household income of £100,000 appointing that the RMT have
over the last 12 months, accord- a year or more gamble, and of decided to take action that could
drive passengers away from the
ing to the Health, Wealth and rail network for good.
Happiness Index by the Centre those 45% have increased the “The pandemic has changed
for Economics and Business Re- amount they gamble over the travel habits, with 25 per cent
search (Cebr) for life insurance past year. fewer ticket sales, and the taxpay-
broker LifeSearch. In comparison, 32% of peo- er stepping in to keep the railways
Just under a third (32%) of all ple with a household income of running at a cost of £16bn, equiv-
Britons gamble, and 23% say they between £20,000 and £30,000 alent to £600 per household. We
have increased their habit over gamble, and of those 16% have must act now to put the industry
the past year increased their habit. on a sustainable footing...”