‘Huge turnouts’ reported at UK cost of living protests
Thousands have gathered in dozens of towns and cities across the UK to register their anger at the cost of living crisis in what organisers describe as the largest wave of simultaneous protests seen in Britain for years.
From Eastbourne to Edinburgh, Newcastle to Norwich, “huge turnouts” were described throughout the UK at protests timed to coincide with the jump in gas and electricity unit prices that will cause bills to soar.
Coordinated between multiple community organisations and trade unions to maximise their impact, Saturday’s protests were staged against a backdrop of the biggest rail strike in Britain for decades.
At King’s Cross in central London, however, the station’s vast forecourt was crammed with crowds of protesters.
Teaching assistant Farzana Khanom, 23, said she was having to choose between paying rising energy bills and investing in her career.
“But if we come together and make our voices heard then perhaps we can make a difference,” she said.
Nearby, below a sea of fluttering union banners and the red smoke of a flare, pensioner Paul Mason, 66, said he had turned up because the volume of protesters had the potential to resonate.
“It depends on how many people turn up of course, what the size of the groundswell is. Eventually they might listen but I’m not hopeful. For the past 13 years they [the Tories] have destroyed the country. Working people cannot afford to live.”
His friend Sarah Golden, 52, added: “I felt so powerless, we can’t vote for example. I wanted to try to make a difference so decided to come here.”
As she spoke, the number of signatures on a recently launched petition calling for a general election to “end the chaos of this government” soared above 300,000.
Across the UK reports of householders
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