Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Anti-austerity Protesters Besiege Downing Street



Crowds descended on Downing Street on Tuesday night to protest against punishing economic policies that experts warn are disastrous for Britain. Activists assembled in Westminster will call for Chancellor George Osborne's resignation.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Osborne masks outside No 10 and No 11 Downing Street at 5:30pm Tuesday in an effort to highlight the Chancellor's culpability in spiraling inequality, plummeting standards of living, the pushing of millions of workers deeper into poverty, and an ever-growing deficit.
The protest, organized by anti-austerity group The People’s Assembly, will be accompanied by similar demonstrations in Norfolk and Fife, Scotland.
The People’s Assembly is a self-declared non-political campaign group working to unite those opposed to austerity policies in an effort to battle for fairer alternatives.
The movement, which consists of economists, academics and activists, rejects reactionary rhetoric peddled by advocates of austerity and places the blame for Britain’s recent economic crisis on the shoulders of banks, big business and myopic government policies.
Britain’s blurred economic reality
In the run-up to Osborne’s Autumn Statement, the group has sought to debunk a series of myths it warns are blurring Britain’s troubling economic reality.
While the government suggests current economic policies are creating employment and prosperity for the many, the group is warning that the majority of residents have experienced the most serious decline in basic living standards since records first began in 1856.
The movement also challenges the notion that Britain’s economy is stronger than many other large economies, arguing the vast majority of developed nations have grown more rapidly since 2010.
It also strongly challenges the coalition government’s claim that austerity has been successful, warning that the nation’s budget deficit has ballooned 10 percent over the past 12 months to £100 billion.

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