A conference in London has demanded an end to the coalition government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s austerity programme, with participants condemning it for creating a widening gap between the poor and the rich.\n<\/p>\n
Thousands of people took part in the first People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Assembly Against Austerity that brought together unions, activists and many members of the public from teachers and nurses to the unemployed.\n<\/p>\n
The protest gathering was held on Saturday to launch a new campaign against the government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s unpopular austerity programme by bridging a gap between all affected people in society.\n<\/p>\n
Protest leaders said they are going to plan demonstrations and strike action as well as peaceful civil disobedience in order for their voices to be heard by the authorities.\n<\/p>\n
The conference was very angry at the government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s policy who they said is creating a bigger divide between rich and poor, and making the most vulnerable pay for the mistakes of the rich.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe do not accept that government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s austerity programme is necessary. The banks and the major corporations should be taxed at a rate which can provide the necessary resources. Austerity does not work: it is a failure in its own terms resulting in neither deficit reduction nor growth\u201d, said a statement.\n<\/p>\n
It was stated in the statement that people from all walks of life have, therefore, chosen the path of resistance.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe have a plain and simple goal: to make government abandon its austerity programme. If it will not it must be replaced with one that will work\u201d, the statement added.\n<\/p>\n
The movement against austerity is rising with hundreds of people joining local People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Assembly rallies across the country.\n<\/p>\n
Backed by eight national unions, key national campaigns and hundreds of local trade unions, community and anti-cuts groups, the People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Assembly Against Austerity provides a key opportunity to co-ordinate a national movement to take on the Tories and their cuts.\n<\/p>\n
The People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Assembly Against Austerity is a key opportunity to bring together all those who want to stop the cuts and the devastation they are bringing to millions of people in the UK, and to launch the next steps in the fightback. As students we are committed to confronting the Tories\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 vandalism of our education system and our futures, said student leaders in an open letter.\n<\/p>\n
MOL\/<\/p>\n