Tens of thousands march against austerity in London

Tens of thousands of people joined an anti-austerity march through central London on Saturday, the first major public protest since Prime Minister David Cameron won last month’s general election. Demonstrators, some of whom had travelled from across Britain, carried placards with slogans such as “End Austerity Now” and “No Cuts” as they snaked through the city from the Bank of England to the Houses of Parliament. Police said there had been no arrests and no violence, although a series of flares were let off. Cameron clinched an unexpected election victory on May 7 that gave his centre-right Conservative party a majority in parliament for the first time in nearly 20 years.

We will not rest until austerity is history, our services are back in public hands and the needs of the majority are put first.

Sam Fairbairn of organisers the People’s Assembly

The 48-year-old had previously led a coalition government since 2010. He has already overseen tough austerity cuts to public services as the government seeks to reduce a budget deficit of nearly £90 billion (120 billion euros, $140 billion). Cameron’s government has pledged to bring the world’s fifth-largest economy back to balance and has vowed to make £30 billion in cutbacks – nearly half to welfare – over the next two years. Finance minister George Osborne is expected to reveal further details of new austerity measures in the Conservative government’s first budget on July

Europe anti-austerity