Large crowds of demonstrators gathered at Clerkenwell Green on Monday 1st May before setting off towards Trafalgar Square.
Crowds, marking International Worker’s Day, marched down Clerkenwell Road, Theobald’s Road and Aldwych on their way to a rally in the central London square.
ΑKEL in Britain’s General Secretary Mr Bambos Charalambous, Organising Secretary Mr Andreas Gregoriou and other party members were present.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the May Day masses that the general election is the biggest chance of a lifetime for the left.
Addressing a packed Trafalgar Square, he launched a searing attack on the Tory government’s record of cuts, low pay and privatisation.
He said: “This is a Tory government that has presided over a country in which our nurses have to rely on foodbanks. Yes that’s right, nurses — the heroes of our NHS — abandoned by this government.
“And all this Tory Prime Minister can say about it is there are ‘complex’ reasons.
“It just shows how out of touch and how little she and her party really care about the problems facing hardworking people in our country.
“The reasons why people use foodbanks are not complex — they use them because they are hungry and cannot afford to feed themselves.
“There are now one in 10 workers in insecure employment. The result is low pay and the result is one million food parcels handed out by our foodbanks.
“Four million of our children live in poverty. Two-thirds of them are in families who are at work. In the sixth-richest country in the world, what do you call that? I call it a bloody disgrace don’t you?”
He highlighted the charter of workers’ rights launched by Labour this week that would ban zero-hours contracts, raise the minimum wage to £10 and grant rights for all workers from the first day of employment.
Mr McDonnell urged people to mobilise to make “June the end of (Theresa) May.”
He urged: “This is our opportunity, brothers and sisters. Some of us have worked for this for all our lives. So the message is this. Carpe diem. Seize the moment. This is our chance. Take it brothers and sisters.”
National Union of Teachers vice-president Kiri Tunks said the union was proud to be fighting alongside workers in the NHS in the battle for a fairer society.
She said it was an “absolute disgrace” that “a third of children in this country live on poverty.”
She praised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr McDonnell and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner for “putting up a credible alternative” and said the general election means “there is everything to fight for.”
Ben Lennon from broadcasting union Bectu, now part of Prospect, said Picturehouse cinema workers were on strike across six sites for a living wage, sick pay and union recognition.
He told the crowd that workers struggle to make ends meet while owners Cineworld raked in a staggering £98 million in profit last year.
And PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka highlighted the government attacks on the public sector, demanding an end to the pay freeze and co-ordinated action from the unions.
He said: “We fight the general election to kick out the Tories. But we also fight the general election to defend the NHS, to kick out the privateers and for better terms and conditions for all health workers.
“Our future can be bright if we fight together.”
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka also spoke alongside representatives from the RMT union who discussed the ongoing dispute with Southern Rail.
In a statement on their website, the organisers stated: “May Day is the day to bring together all the important struggles going on over NHS, attacks on the disabled, on education, housing, against the anti-union laws, against racism, against threats to peace, against Government support for repressive regimes, the whole austerity agenda, attacks on civil liberties, the environment, the arts and so many other areas of our lives.
“They are all linked in the economic system dominated by multinationals leading to more money for the super rich and attacks on the lives of ordinary people, young and old, of all backgrounds.
“We need to bring them all together in one great fight.”
