Outpouring of anger over Grenfell Tower fire at London anti-austerity rally
By
Robert Stevens
3 July 2017
Tens of thousands marched in an anti-Conservative government “Not One Day More” demonstration in London on Saturday.
The march began at the headquarters of the BBC’s Broadcasting House in Portland Place and proceeded to Parliament Square. There it was addressed by speakers including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Frances O’Grady and Unite union General Secretary Len McCluskey.
The rally was organised by the People’s Assembly, a pro-Labour umbrella. Its aim was to promote the formation of a Labour government as an answer to Tory austerity measures.
At the beginning of June, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell called for a million people to “get out on the streets” for the protest. It was necessary to build pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to call another election “as early as possible. What we need now is the TUC mobilised, every union mobilised, get out on the streets. Just think if the TUC put out that call—that we want a million on the streets of London in two weeks’ time,” he said.
The rally could have been much bigger than it was—the highest estimate by the People’s Assembly itself was 100,000. This was the first major national demonstration since the Tories suffered a humiliating electoral collapse in the snap June 8 general election. While remaining in office in an unstable alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party, the Tories lost their majority due to a surge in support for Labour, which was based on Corbyn’s claim that Labour was an anti-austerity party. After Labour’s defeat in the 2015 general election, the People’s Assembly rally…