Campaign calls for 1m UK consumers to stop paying energy bills

Anonymous activists behind Don't Pay hope cancelling direct debits will have impact akin to poll tax protests

A campaign is urging 1 million consumers to stop paying their energy bills from October in protest at record price hikes.

Run by a group of activists who are operating anonymously for fear of repercussions from energy firms, the Don't Pay campaign launched last Saturday and has already gathered 4,000 social media followers. They say they are hoping for a rerun of the poll tax protests that helped bring down Margaret Thatcher's government when 17 million people refused to pay.