On Sat 20th October, I
met members of the Middlesex University UNISON Branch outside the Savoy on the
strand, ready to march on the TUC mass demonstration in London against the
government austerity agenda which is clearly not working.
There were workers from Barnet
council who exchanged banter with us. I was told how the majority of Barnet
services are now being privitised and outsourced and how they are battling
against the further erosion of public services. Its appalling what is happening
in the name of ‘savings and budget cuts’ when anybody can see that it is the bankers
and the rich who are getting off scot free.
As we formed up on the embankment in a surreal moment Barry White’s music was booming out from the PSU. There were thousands of people from all over the country and a carnival atmosphere. Lots of marchers from the North, who were down to register a protest, teachers, civil servants, cleaners and policemen. Yes the police, they were handing out leaflets being friendly and approachable, sympathetic to the march.
The march started at mid-day and
slowly meandered past Embankment station and the Houses of Parliament. There
was a cacophony of noise with marchers blowing whistles, banging drums and various
sound systems blaring out the Clash. I looked behind me and noted I was in
august company: Jonathan Millar and his family were marching, I also spotted
Angela Eagle, Labour MP in the shadow cabinet. I had a laugh seeing if I could
spot any agent provocateurs, they tend to wear a clichéd costume of black
balaclava with a brutish expression, but on this March there weren’t any.
We got to Hyde Park, had a quick
perusal round the Socialist pop-up bookshop, and then made our way to the
middle of the park in front of giant screens. The speeches started from
firebrands such as Bob Crow, general secretary of the Transport workers. He
made some hilarious points.
All this in a week for the Tories that saw George Osbourne
the Tory Chancellor upgrading himself to a first class carriage without having
purchased the right ticket. Also Andrew Mitchell who was stopped by Downing
street police from going through an entrance on his bike and called them
‘Plebs’, thus revealing his opinion of people trying to do their job.
Interestingly both banana skins
were to do with class, how can Eton educated MPs have any idea of the suffering
and misery their out of touch policies are inflicting.
Ed Milliband spoke of further
austerity measures if Labour got into power, which did not go down well with
people at all. Dave Prentis UNISON General Secretary spoke of the need to
invest in good public services to boost the economy and strengthen communities.
Helen Hayward
