500,000 march in London as trade unions join anti-cuts battle

The sleeping giant of Britain's trade unions woke up on Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations in many years, reports Tom Bolton

*See pictures of REVOLUTION on the protest here*

On Saturday 26 March between 500,000 and 750,000 people from across Britain marched through central London in opposition to ConDem cuts in what was the biggest demonstration since Stop the War in 2003. Representatives from every town, city and region, every trade union and every public sector workplace were out in force in a display anger at the government’s austerity drive.

The march through Embankment, Trafalgar Square and the West End, which culminated in a TUC rally at Hyde Park, drew people from all walks of life united in their disgust at David Cameron’s designs to tear apart our welfare state and our society.

The Revo bloc marched from University of London Union, Malet Street before linking with the main ‘March for an Alternative’ at Embankment whilst there was a Revo-Workers Power stall based in Hyde Park itself.

Along the march Revo raised the call for a general strike to bring down the millionaire coalition; offering a no cuts alternative message in opposition to the prevailing ‘too far, too fast’ mantra of much of the TUC and Labour Party leadership.

The hundreds of thousands of marchers showed the true meaning of democracy and ‘big society’ and the diverse affiliations and causes present demonstrated that working class people of all ages and backgrounds understand the ideology behind the Tories ‘cuts as necessity’ rhetoric.

The millionaire cabinet fundamentally cannot comprehend the experience of living on benefits, attending state school, claiming EMA, worrying about funding higher education, being an NHS patient, working for minimum wage or enduring the high cost of living. The sheer numbers present was a forceful rebuke. March 26th marked a significant shift in the current trend of mass protest: the large amount of people present meant that individuals who would not normally identify themselves as ‘activist’ or ‘political’ now recognise the need to resist.

The energy against the cuts begun by the student movement has inspired workers in general to take to the streets to demand an alternative: the government went after education and won a brief victory. The NHS is next. As the cuts bite the ConDems can expect only greater and greater anger and action. The Tory attacks upon our jobs and services are only enabled by the lying and cowardly Liberal Democrat leadership and an outdated parliamentary system. There is no mandate whatsoever for what is being unleashed against the people of Britain.

Services fought for, defended and strengthened over generations are being threatened with ruin; to be sold off to the highest bidder for private profit not social gain.

In Hyde Park PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka offered a necessary and forceful argument against the government, saying ‘lets be clear… we must oppose every single cut in public spending, no cuts whatsoever…we should defend every pensioner, every student and every worker’ whilst also calling for coordinated strike action.

Similarly Unite leader Len McCluskey called for a “plan of resistance’. He said “that [the march] can only be a start” and that we need “coordinated strike action”, calling for student and worker unity.

Beyond expressing displeasure against the nature of the cuts, and hoping for a large Labour vote in a general election in four years time, the TUC must rally and organise towards a general strike to stop the government, reverse the proposed cuts and to oust the ConDems.

The union leadership will need to organise action fast. If they don’t we need to build an anti-cuts movement that will defend every job and every service and with the clear aim of bringing down the Tories, with the official leaders where possible, and without where necessary.