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News > World

Protesters Demand End to UK Austerity

  • Protesters Demand End to UK Austerity
  • Demonstrators hold up placards as they march through Westminster during protest after the State Opening of Parliament in central London.

    Demonstrators hold up placards as they march through Westminster during protest after the State Opening of Parliament in central London. | Photo: Reuters

Published 27 May 2015
Opinion

Protesters in London say austerity has crushed the poor, while giving the rich a free pass.

​Thousands of anti-Conservative protesters are expected to descend on London Wednesday to express anger at the government's austerity budget.

Activists said police tried to “kettle” crowds of protesters. Kettling is a tactic that involves surrounding and compressing crowds.

At least two activists have reportedly been detained.

By late afternoon hundreds of protesters had already begun gathering at Trafalgar Square, after the official state opening of parliament. During her traditional speech before parliament, Queen Elizabeth II laid out the new government's pledge to hold a referendum on EU membership and devolve greater powers to Scotland and Wales. However, the new government has already infuriated activists by vowing more austerity, while the Queen's speech made no mention of electoral promises to crack down on corporate tax dodging.

“Despite the encouraging promises in the Conservative manifesto, after today’s Queen’s speech we remain in the dark as to how the Chancellor will recover the 5 billion pounds (US$7.7 billion) he plans to get from clamping down on tax dodging,” Barry Johnston from Action Aid U.K. told the Independent.

Aid groups aren't the only ones frustrated with the government's spending priorities. Organizers of Wednesday's protest say the government's plans to continue harsh austerity measures are hitting the poor and increasing inequality.

“We've suffered austerity for too long. It created the longest fall in living standards since records began for the majority while the 1,000 richest doubled their wealth,” national secretary of the People's Assembly, Sam Fairbairn told the Evening Standard.

“With less than 25 percent of the population's vote, this government has no mandate to continue austerity and we vow to create a movement so big it stops austerity in its tracks,” Fairbairn stated.

Earlier in the day, a separate protest hit Parliament Square. Organizers of the protest, the Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, said the demonstration aimed to give voters sick of austerity a voice.

“Five more years of this shit? No fucking way,” was the motto of the protest.

More protests are planned for June 20, when activists say they will march from the Bank of England to Parliament.

Tags

United Kingdom austerity David Cameron Queen's Speech #FuckTheTories

Guardian-ES-AFP-Reuters
by teleSUR / rmo-TP-gp
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