Massive march in London to protest planned measures to cut budget deficit
In possibly the biggest protests since those against the Iraq war in February 2003, organizers say up to 250,000 people took to the streets of London on Saturday to show their frustration with planned austerity measures designed to cut a record budget deficit.
Police would not confirm that number. People carried banners reading “Don't break Britain” and “No to cuts” in the largely peaceful protests, with about 4,500 police standing by.
The protests were characterized by an almost carnival atmosphere, with dancers, choirs, bagpipers and the sound of vuvuzelas providing the backdrop.
Some anarchist demonstrators set off flares and fireworks, however, and a small breakaway group threw bottles and paint at a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the UK's largest banking groups.
Masked demonstrators smashed the windows of clothing chain Topshop on Oxford Street in central London and there were sporadic scuffles with police.
The “March for the Alternative,” was organized by Britain's umbrella union body, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to protest plans by Britain's Conservative-Liberal government to slash public services to the tune of £ 81 billion pounds (130bn USD).
The cuts are an attempt to almost eliminate by 2015 the country's soaring budget deficit, currently 10% of GDP, which the current government blames on the previous Labour administration.
Unions and the opposition Labour Party say the measures go too far, too fast and bring misery to millions in Britain, where unemployment is at its highest level since 1994.
“Our struggle is to fight to preserve, protect and defend the best of the services we cherish because they represent the best of the country we love” Labour leader Ed Miliband told demonstrators in London's Hyde Park.
The government, meanwhile, insists the cuts are painful but necessary.
“Of course, people will feel a sense of disquiet, in some cases anger, at what they see happening,” Education Minister Michael Gove told BBC Radio.
“But the difficulty we have, as the government inheriting a terrible economic mess, is that we have to take steps to bring public finances into balance” he said in a thinly veiled swipe at the previous Labour government.
The demonstrations follow student protests last year against a tripling of university tuition fees. Several of those demonstrations turned violent, with one resulting in protesters damaging the car carrying heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.
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: P
Poor brits, nothing to be proud of...
certainly Outcome is fateful !
The huge debt created by the Blair/Brown Labour governments would have to be addressed speedily by whatever government took over from them.
The concern of the grossly enlarged number of public service individuals (unions) - grossly expanded by these Labour governments - is that they want their 'entitlements' to continue (including pensions) irrespective of the Government's/taxpayers ability to pay the bills.
If a family lives beyond its means and runs up horrendous credit card debts, does the family say 'sorry, I won't be paying my debts off until after I have had my overseas holidays, and then only at a much reduced rate of repayment'. And when the bank says 'But at this rate, you will be paying back forever and your debt will increase with interest and not reduce - you are heading for the 'debtor's prison!' - should the debtor heed and act on the message?
I think so!
So, when the UK Government says 'suck up the pain' and we will get through this,' say in return 'OK, but let's see what you, the Government, does to increase the creation of new jobs in the private sector. Let's see what you do to develop UK manufacture rather than export it. Let's see how you develop a stratum of society trained through Apprenticeships for these NEW (technological) jobs. Bring employment and profit back to these shores and we will survive the immediate pain.'
But simply shouting 'Entitlement!' is an exercise in self-indulgent delusion.
You may not be aware that this unknown website interview with Livingstone is an abberation.
Livingstone is a law unto himself - thrown out of the Labour Party, violently anti-American, pro-union, anti-Blair, anti-Cameron, and a big friend of amphibians and reptiles (honest!).
However, I would agree with him on one thing - borrowing one's way out of the situation is no solution.
He seems to agree that the 'suck it up and take the pain' is the only way to go . . . . apart from robin-hood-taxing the bankers until their pips squeek and they flee the country!
well the reason is simple Labour fxcked it all up, but say they were getting on top, [after 13 years, mmm] then the con/lib/coalition comes along and wants all the cuts now, this is hurting, the people are suffering,
and labour as per normal says that every one is a baddie and they are the good guys riding into town to rescue us, , hoping to get back into power and screw it up all over again, sadly as we all know, humans have short memories when it come to politicians, every jumps on the band wagon of hate, but the government has already exposed massive corruption in banks/industry/military /councils, the unions complain but say nothing when the councils is exposed to having millions tucked away, conning the people, labour signing up to military hard way that cost more than gold itself ,and never worked or delivered, the cutbacks are hard, very hard, but if they fail , then back to the drawing board ,
if it works then Britain will be able to afford what it cant pay for right now, mmm
Didn't the 'supertax' on bank bonuses raise about 2 billion (although many found a way around it), and there was no mass exodus of bankers.
8 - I think for a lot of people, it's not so much the cuts themselves (although it is for some), but where the cuts are falling.
That way Americans and Brits can protest together.
You will need a lot of space, haha.
www.latidobuenosaires.com/monserratbuenosairesbarrioargentinafotos.html
rt.com/usa/news/usa-wisconsin-union-thousands-protest/
Obama show me the money...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2roews2_1c&feature=player_embedded#t=0s
lol
That's awfully kind of you Nico but I still think we should charge them.
Who do you think is going to sell them the Kebabs, fish & chips, Burger King, Big Mac, beer, Tetra brick en cajita, Huggies, Chori pan, T-shirts of Che Guevara, posters of Obama and Cameron to be burned, eh!?
In fact we can place big images of Obama and Cameron with a sign “throw your favorite stone and piss and insult these guys just for $5” haha.
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: )
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