
Thousands gather for anti-austerity demonstration in London
Campaign group The People's Assembly said it expected trade unionists, campaigners and activists to attend the event in central London on Saturday.
MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott are among those expected to give speeches at a rally in Whitehall.
The organisers accused the Government of making spending cuts that target the poorest in society.
Representatives from the National Education Union, Revolutionary Communist Party, Green Party and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union could all be seen at the march's start point in Portland Place.
The large crowd then set off towards Whitehall shortly before 1pm.
Many of the protesters were holding placards that read 'Tax the rich, stop the cuts – welfare not warfare'.
Other signs being held aloft said 'Nurses not nukes' and 'Cut war, not welfare'.
A People's Assembly spokesperson said: 'The adherence to 'fiscal rules' traps us in a public service funding crisis, increasing poverty, worsening mental health and freezing public sector pay.
'Scrapping winter fuel payments, keeping the Tory two-child benefit cap, abandoning Waspi women, cutting £5 billion of welfare by limiting Pip and universal credit eligibility, and slashing UK foreign aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP, while increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, are presented as 'tough choices'.
'Real tough choices would be for a Labour government to tax the rich and their hidden wealth, to fund public services, fair pay, investment in communities and the NHS.'
The People's Assembly said it is bringing together trade unionists, health, disability, housing, and welfare campaigners with community organisations under the slogan: No to Austerity2.0.
There will be also be speeches from trade union leaders, disability rights activists, anti-poverty campaigners and groups calling for more investment in the NHS and other public services.
The spokesperson added: 'We face a growing threat from the far right, fuelled by racism, division and failed politics. We need to see people's lives improve, we need to see the vulnerable cared for and an end to child poverty.
'On June 7, we march for education, for our NHS, for welfare, for refugees, against hate, and for a society in which our children can flourish.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Victory for Darlington nurses as they win landmark battle for a female-only hospital changing room
Eight pioneering nurses who formed their own union to defend the rights of women have won a landmark battle for a female-only changing room. The Darlington nurses launched a legal action saying transgender policies put them at risk, deprived them of dignity and breached their human rights. They claimed a biological male colleague identifying as a woman called Rose stared at their breasts as they were getting undressed and lingered too long in the changing room. One nurse had a panic attack after Rose repeatedly asked when they were alone, 'Are you getting changed yet?' Now, with their case heading to the courts, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has intervened, ordering Darlington Memorial Hospital to give the women their own room. One of them, Bethany Hutchison, said they 'hugely appreciate' the action 'to restore our safety and dignity in the workplace in line with the law'. And she said the nurses would not 'stop until this action is extended urgently to female workers across the NHS without any unnecessary delay'. The Darlington nurses sued their NHS trust a year ago, winning overwhelming support across the country. 'Millions of women stand with them,' said Their victory comes after it emerged last week that NHS chiefs have been forced to rip up their pro-trans guidance after it was rendered illegal by the Supreme Court. The NHS Confederation, which represents trusts, has quietly withdrawn guidance telling hospitals that they should allow trans people to use their chosen lavatories and changing rooms. A senior NHS England official visited Darlington Memorial Hospital unannounced last week and described the changing facilities for female staff as 'inadequate'. The official apologised to one of the Darlington nurses, promising to act 'with speed' by providing male, female and gender-neutral changing rooms, adding: 'We want you to feel comfortable and safe.' Last year, after raising concerns the nurses were told by HR that they needed to get 're-educated', 'compromise' and 'be more inclusive'. After the nurses publicised their claim, the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust gave them a 'temporary' office for changing into uniforms. However, supporters of the nurses said that the office had no lockers and opened on to a public corridor, resulting in the women branding it as 'dehumanising' and 'humiliating'. When their union was reluctant to lend its support, the eight nurses formed their own, the Darlington Nursing Union and submitted their proposals for a way forward to Mr Streeting. Their guidelines provided 'a fair and manageable way forward to protect safe single-sex spaces for all NHS staff in line with the equality law'. In addition, it respected the rights of those with the protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', legally known as 'transexuals'. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch backed the nurses saying: 'A woman should never be forced to get undressed in the presence of a man. The case of the Darlington Nurses is yet another example of women being demonised and patronised for raising legitimate concerns about single-sex spaces.' Mr Streeting was forced to wait until after April's Supreme Court ruling that the word sex in the Equality Act means biological sex before making his latest intervention row. Last month it was revealed that even before the Supreme Court ruling, the Royal College of Nursing had written to the Darlington trust saying they were acting unlawfully. The letter ordered the trust to provide single-sex changing rooms 'without delay.' Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'A climate of fear has pervaded the system and many from top to bottom have been intimidated into silence and inaction. Equality and diversity policies have been weaponised to silence dissent and to prevent women's safety and dignity being protected in the workplace. 'We are grateful for the action from Wes Streeting and NHS England in this matter and pray that they will now quickly follow this through so that the nurses can return to the female changing rooms without delay.'


Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The NHS recoups just £29million for treating European patients... while forking out £1billion in return
The Government is failing to recoup what could amount to millions of pounds each year from European countries for treating their citizens on the NHS, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The Department of Health and Social Care charged European nations just £29.5million last year to pay for their citizens to be treated in Britain's hospitals. Yet the UK's bill for the healthcare costs of British pensioners and holidaymakers treated in European hospitals came to nearly £1billion in the same period. Critics say it raises concerns that the Government is allowing the NHS to be 'taken for a ride' by Europe on healthcare costs. While European nations bill the Government for care provided to Britons based on hospital invoices, the MoS has learned UK officials compile bills for countries based on 'estimates' of costs incurred by the NHS to treat their citizens. Campaigners say the true figure is likely to be significantly higher. And while the NHS is failing to get the best deal possible for taxpayers – Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing a £30billion boost to the health service at the expense of the police and councils. The revelations come after the MoS revealed in April that hospitals in England had written off £256.4million owed by overseas visitors for NHS procedures. Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: 'The problem lies in our total inability to monitor non-UK nationals' use of the NHS, a scandalous failure to secure payments due, and naivety when dealing with the EU which has so often taken us for a ride.' Tory MP Joe Robertson, a member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: 'It beggars belief that the NHS has no record of the cost of care it provides to foreign nationals. 'Our NHS is not supposed to be a subsidised health service for the rest of Europe but plainly that's what it is becoming.' There is a 'reciprocal agreement' for healthcare in Europe, which means all citizens in the European Economic Area (EEA) are entitled to some, or all, of their healthcare needs to be paid for by their home nation when abroad. While European health systems, which usually charge upfront, are good at logging such details, the NHS is not – hence the rough estimates. The figures, which come from a Freedom of Information request by the MoS, reveal the NHS billed Spain £6.7million during 2023/24 and paid back around £441million. Some £225million went to Ireland and £186million to France – but the NHS billed just £17million and £11million in return. Germany received £10.9million and paid back £3.5million to the UK. And there are also more British visitors to Europe (63million) every year than European visitors to the UK (26million). But the gap between what the UK pays, and what it bills back, has worsened over the last decade. In 2014/15, the UK claimed back £49.7million from Europe but in 2023/24, it was £20.2million less, a drop of 40 per cent. And bills for Britons treated abroad have risen by 40 per cent, from £674.4million in 2014/15 to £948.9million last year. Mr Robertson said he had written to the Public Accounts Committee to look at this subject and 'force the Government's hand'. A Department of Health spokesman said the UK charges EU nations when their citizens use the NHS as part of a deal which ensures Britains 'can also get healthcare when visiting Europe'.


Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Two hours 'doomscrolling' on their phone or tablet can double teenagers' risk of anxiety and quadruple the likelihood of depression
Teens who spend more than two hours a day scrolling on phones or tablets double their risk of developing anxiety and quadruple their chances of depression, say scientists. Prolonged screen time, particularly passively scrolling or 'doomscrolling', led to heightened anxiety, depression, aggression and impulsiveness among adolescents who took part in a nine-month study. Neuroscientists said 45 per cent of the 12 to 17-year-olds they studied, who had no prior mental health conditions, experienced psychiatric symptoms that needed further medical evaluation. 'This is really surprising,' said Prof Emma Duerden, Canada 's research chair in neuroscience and learning disorders. 'It is much higher than we would expect to see. Before Covid, rates of anxiety in adolescents were between 8 and 15 per cent. Now, we see almost half of the sample size reporting heightened anxiety, which is alarming.' The research comes amid a growing mental health crisis in Britain's schools, with NHS data showing more than a fifth of eight to 16-year-olds had a probable mental health problem in 2023, a rise of 7 per cent since 2017. In the latest study, pre-existing issues such as mental health conditions, as well as screen use, demographic data, emotional and behavioural difficulties and levels of perceived anxiety were collected from 580 youngsters. Time spent on screens, as well as screen-use behaviours such as frequency, total time, posting content on social media and passive scrolling were tanalysed. Passive scrolling, which includes 'doomscrolling' or the mindless act of consuming content on social media, had by far the strongest negative influence on adolescents. Prof Duerden said limiting a child's screen time to no more than two hours a day and encouraging physical activity would boost well-being. But she admitted steering children away from their digital devices was not easy. 'In past studies, we've shown some teens reporting 15 hours of screen time a day. They wake up, go on a screen and stay the whole day. 'This is a critical period for brain and behavioural development, including emotional regulation and impulse control.'