Thousands gathered in central London on Saturday to demonstrate against what they called “Tory austerity” and demand an immediate general election.
The protest, called Britain is Broken, was organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, and supported by groups including CND, Unite, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.
Thousands of people marched in the rain from Embankment to Trafalgar Square in central London.
Michelle Uden, 34, who brought her seven-year-old twin boys to the protest and cares for her husband who has epilepsy at their home in New Eltham, south-east London, told the PA news agency: “We want to get rid of Rishi Sunak, we want more funding for the NHS, we want that to stop being privatised.
“We want the Tories out – it’s the only way to get change.”
She added she did not believe a general election would be called but wanted her children to see “democracy in action”.
Speakers at the rally included Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union – whose members had planned to strike on Saturday until the action was suspended on Friday – and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said the government would be “forced to listen” to protesters calling for improved pay and workers’ rights.
“The government is of course eventually forced to listen, as are the rail companies, therefore they have reopened negotiations with the RMT,” he said.
“The people out here are very determined. They’re not going to see people with disabilities discriminated against, they’re not going to see growing impoverishment in our society.”
Corbyn, who sits as an independent after having the whip removed by his party, told the PA news agency he was there with Labour MPs, and that he believed members of the shadow cabinet should also have been there.
The People’s Assembly said the protesters were demanding an immediate general election, action on low pay and the repeal of “anti-union” employment laws.
The Conservative party maintains it has a mandate to form the government because of its Commons majority and is under no statutory obligation to call a general election until 2024.
But some have suggested two changes of leadership since the 2019 general election – decided upon by the party alone, as well as internal debates over whether to continue to honour the manifesto on which the party was elected three years ago – mean that mandate is severely outdated and undermined.
The former Labour MP Laura Pidcock, now the national secretary of the People’s Assembly, said: “This Tory government is now totally unaccountable, but outrage is not enough.
“We have to come together as a movement to organise on the streets and in our communities, and show that our voices will not be silenced and that we want fundamental changes to the way our country is run.
“We will not get that from the politicians. We will only get that from the strength of a united, vibrant movement of working class people coming together, building together and making change together.”
Anti-racism groups also joined the march, demanding the removal of Suella Braverman as home secretary. She has been heavily criticised recently for her rhetoric towards people who have tried to come to live in the UK from abroad and her handling of the crisis at the asylum processing centre at Manston in Kent.
