Thousands of protesters marched through central London on Saturday, under heavy rain, to protest against the rising cost of living and demand the calling of early elections.
The demonstration brought together several activist platforms, such as Just Stop the Oil and the Million Mask March, as well as trade union groups and civic and community organisations, mobilizing thousands of people who paraded in the rain around the British Parliament, wielding banners with messages such as “The United Kingdom is broken” (“Britain is broken”, a slogan used by the Conservative Party when it was in opposition) and “Out with the Conservatives!”.
According to activist Ramona McCartney, organizer of one of the protest platforms, the demonstration was called to denounce the “profound crisis in the government, with a third prime minister in a few months.”
The organizations that called the demonstration want to put pressure on the authorities to declare the immediate holding of general elections in the country, so that measures are taken against low wages and some “anti-union” laws are repealed.
Anti-racist groups also participated in the demonstration demanding the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, accused of incompetence in dealing with the migratory problem.
Earlier this week, Braverman sparked outrage when he described the number of people seeking asylum in the country as an “invasion.”
The statements were immediately described as “horrifying” by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, promised today that the budget, which must be presented on November 17, will be “fair”, and reiterated that the decisions were “difficult”, given the economic and financial crisis that the country is going through. through.
The country is weighed down by record-high inflation and financial concerns caused by the previous government of Conservative Liz Truss.
According to several British media, quoted by AFP, the prime minister and his finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, are considering allocating up to 50,000 million pounds sterling (about 57,000 million euros) in tax increases and spending cuts, to guarantee stability. long-term. of public finances, predicting a return to austerity.
As well as rising prices, with the annual inflation rate topping 10% in October, Britons are also experiencing interest rate hikes, driving up the cost of bank home loans.
The country has been the scene of several strikes in recent months demanding pay rises as the Conservatives, in power for 12 years, struggle to stay ahead in the polls, facing opposition from the Labor Party.
Source: TSF
