Charlotte Church and Russell Brand join protesters at End Austerity Now rally in London

An estimated 250,000 marched from the Bank of England to the Houses of Parliament to protest against Tory Government cuts. 

 

Last updated: 20 June 2015, 15:30 BST

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Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through London to protest billions of pounds of Government cuts at an anti-austerity rally this afternoon.
Celebrities including singer Charlotte Church and comedian Russell Brand joined demonstrators as they brandished placards, blew whistles and chanted from the Bank of England to the Houses of Parliament.
Charlotte said: “I’m here today in a show of solidarity with everyone here – it is a massive turnout – everybody who thinks that austerity isn’t the only way and thinks it is essentially unethical, unfair and unnecessary.”

Diane Abbott and Charlotte Church with protesters (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Asked if she was inspired by the surge of the Scottish National Party she said “absolutely”.
The 29-year-old added: “But I think that the Scottish have been able to galvanise themselves against the Westminster elite.
“We are in one of the richest nations in the world and social inequality is unacceptable.
“I’m immensely proud to be here. I think this is a brilliant movement and it is for the common good. We are here to make a stand.”
Speakers including Labour MP and London mayoral hopeful Diane Abbott addressed the crowd in the heart of the financial district before the march, which kicked off to the sounds of drum bands.

When the crowd, which included many trade unionists and public sector workers, arrived outside Downing Street they booed and a red flare was set off.
Sian Bloor, 45, a primary school teacher from Trafford, near Manchester, warned that children “are being robbed of their childhood” because of swingeing Government cuts.
She said: “We have seen a huge impact on our work at primary school.
“I regularly bring clothes and shoes for children and biscuits for their breakfast, just so they get something to eat.

(John Stillwell/PA)

“They are being robbed of their childhood.”
Organisers said an estimated 250,000 people were on the march. There were also marches in Glasgow and Liverpool.
A spokesman for the People’s Assembly, which organised the protest, said: “It is clear this march has exceeded all expectations.
“Even the police are estimating that there are ‘several hundred thousand’ marching. Today is not the end of our campaign against austerity but the start of a mass movement prepared to take on this government.”