Forty-four days after David Cameron gained an unexpected majority on a dramatic general election night, opposition parties are still picking themselves up from the floor. But on the streets of Britain, tens of thousands of people took up their placards and filled the streets of London, Glasgow and elsewhere for the first major protest against the government’s plans for five more years of austerity.
Estimates of the size of the rally in central London on Saturday varied between 70,000 and more than 150,000; in Glasgow’s George Square several thousand gathered and there were smaller demonstrations reported in other cities, including Liverpool and Bristol.
“We’re here to say austerity isn’t working,” said Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP, to great applause from the crowds in Parliament Square at the end of the march. “We’re here to say that it wasn’t people on Jobseekers’ Allowance that brought down the banks.
“It wasn’t nurses and teachers and firefighters who were recklessly gambling on international markets. And so we should stop the policies that are making them pay for a crisis that wasn’t there making.”
Marching under the banner End Austerity Now, protesters denounced public sector cuts, the treatment of the disabled and the vulnerable through welfare cuts, the privatisation of the NHS. Teachers, nurses, lawyers and union groups marched under their own banners. Chants and songs demanded an end to Tory government, equality and more help for the poor.
A sprinkling of celebrity faces – Russell Brand, Charlotte Church and actor Richard Coyle – were among the crowd.
The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, told the rally: “It is David Cameron’s cabinet of millionaires – they are the people who are the real spongers. They are the people who are given free rein to live out their Thatcherite fantasies at the expense of ordinary, decent communities throughout these islands.”
Protesters set off from outside the Bank of England, and by the time the march reached Westminster – its final destination – a sea of banners, placards and flags stretched for more than a mile down Whitehall and past Trafalgar Square.
The Savoy Hotel, fearing trouble, closed their front entrance on Saturday afternoon, reports The Guardian.
“This is a magnificent demonstration,” said John Rees of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, which organised the protest. “But it’s only a beginning. We can’t win with only one demonstration.”
Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, addressing marchers from a stage overlooking Parliament, said: “Let me warn this government, once again, push us outside of the law and you will be responsible for the consequences, not us.
“The desire for a better world, a peaceful world, a world where human endeavour is used to enhance all people, where solidarity and community spirit reign supreme, that has always been part of the Labour movement’s DNA and we won’t let them steal it from us.”
Labour’s London mayoral candidate Diane Abbott told the Observer: “It’s sad that there are not more Labour MPs here. Tory austerity is not necessary and the Labour Party should be making the case for an alternative. There’s huge popular support for fighting austerity and it’s remarkable that I will be the only mayoral candidate actually against austerity, when I think the majority of Labour supporters in London are against austerity.”
Estimates of the size of the rally in central London on Saturday varied between 70,000 and more than 150,000; in Glasgow’s George Square several thousand gathered and there were smaller demonstrations reported in other cities, including Liverpool and Bristol.
“We’re here to say austerity isn’t working,” said Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP, to great applause from the crowds in Parliament Square at the end of the march. “We’re here to say that it wasn’t people on Jobseekers’ Allowance that brought down the banks.
“It wasn’t nurses and teachers and firefighters who were recklessly gambling on international markets. And so we should stop the policies that are making them pay for a crisis that wasn’t there making.”
Marching under the banner End Austerity Now, protesters denounced public sector cuts, the treatment of the disabled and the vulnerable through welfare cuts, the privatisation of the NHS. Teachers, nurses, lawyers and union groups marched under their own banners. Chants and songs demanded an end to Tory government, equality and more help for the poor.
A sprinkling of celebrity faces – Russell Brand, Charlotte Church and actor Richard Coyle – were among the crowd.
The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, told the rally: “It is David Cameron’s cabinet of millionaires – they are the people who are the real spongers. They are the people who are given free rein to live out their Thatcherite fantasies at the expense of ordinary, decent communities throughout these islands.”
Protesters set off from outside the Bank of England, and by the time the march reached Westminster – its final destination – a sea of banners, placards and flags stretched for more than a mile down Whitehall and past Trafalgar Square.
The Savoy Hotel, fearing trouble, closed their front entrance on Saturday afternoon, reports The Guardian.
“This is a magnificent demonstration,” said John Rees of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, which organised the protest. “But it’s only a beginning. We can’t win with only one demonstration.”
Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, addressing marchers from a stage overlooking Parliament, said: “Let me warn this government, once again, push us outside of the law and you will be responsible for the consequences, not us.
“The desire for a better world, a peaceful world, a world where human endeavour is used to enhance all people, where solidarity and community spirit reign supreme, that has always been part of the Labour movement’s DNA and we won’t let them steal it from us.”
Labour’s London mayoral candidate Diane Abbott told the Observer: “It’s sad that there are not more Labour MPs here. Tory austerity is not necessary and the Labour Party should be making the case for an alternative. There’s huge popular support for fighting austerity and it’s remarkable that I will be the only mayoral candidate actually against austerity, when I think the majority of Labour supporters in London are against austerity.”
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