Special Protest Report: March for the Alternative

The TUC had organised the 26 March demonstration months in advance. Everyone knew it would be big, but just how many people and which groups would turn up in central London on the day? Estimates of numbers vary between sources, but it was probably around 500,000. It definitely felt comparable to the demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003.

Victoria Embankment was already full of banners and placards by the time EoP arrived at 10:30am. We were pleased to join numerous trade unions, activists, public sector workers, unemployed, disabled people, and protestors. It was interesting to see the diversity of groups extended to women’s organisations, music and theatre unions, physiotherapists, and pensioners all marching alongside revolutionary and political parties.


We started marching just after 12pm. Trade union branches from around the country were represented in their delegations and many workers – from nurses to firemen – marched in uniform against the cuts.


Walking towards Westminster, we caught up with the teaching unions NASUWT and the NUT, protesting against cuts to education.


The route took us up Whitehall and past Downing Street where you could hear the crowd’s deafening boos. The march was apparently 4 miles long, so let’s hope Cameron heard our discontent for a good few hours.


Trafalgar Square was about half way along the route. People took the chance to rest, climb statues to protest, and a large Trojan horse circled Nelson’s Column.


From Piccadilly Circus, we moved along Picadilly – the home of Fortnum & Mason, several banks, and the Ritz. On our right, a stream of about 200 anarchists joined the protest. They seemed very well organised, and we caught sight of them causing havoc at branches of Santander, Starbucks and the Ritz. This was action distinctly separate from the main, peaceful march. We’ve included a photo below, but more can be found in our Facebook photo album.



Amongst a suddenly heavy police presence we reached Hyde Park at about 3:30pm. There were hundreds of thousands of people there already. Speakers at the rally included Ed Miliband, Brendan Barber, and Mehdi Hasan, who all praised the great turnout. We were told at 4:30 that people were still arriving - and information on Twitter suggested that the march still stretched back to Whitehall.



We left Hyde Park for a well-deserved tortilla down Oxford Street. We passed Oxford Circus, and the spectacle that was Topshop’s flagship store. It’s not the first time this store has been targeted by UKUncut, but it had certainly been hit harder than any previous occasion. The paint-splattered windows implied that it had been targeted by the anarchists who had previously attacked the Ritz, de Beers Jewellers and Starbucks. A wall of police was protecting the store, and it certainly wasn’t open for business. Even passing shoppers couldn’t help but take a photo. As I write, there are still reports that police are defending the store.

We participated in the main, peaceful, family-orientated march. We also caught a glimpse of the minority’s actions against businesses and the rich. It will be interesting how the Sunday papers will report the march tomorrow. Will they focus on the 500,000 or the 500?

Click here for our full photo album

Why are you marching?

On Saturday 26th March thousands of people will take to the streets in an act of opposition to government cuts. Cuts are coming hard and fast - from the voluntary sector to the systematic dismantling of the NHS - in an attempt to divide opposition, fragment dissent and nullify alternatives.

In anticipation of the March for the Alternative we canvassed online opinion from activists on why they are opposing government cuts. Here are some of the responses we received from ordinary folk - we hope you will share your own:

“I am not on the actual march, I am doing the armchair army march instead cos I am disabled. I am 'marching' because the govt is not chasing tax dodgers hard enough, my son and I live in poverty and he needs his EMA so he can get out of poverty and eventually find a job. I am marching for a living wage for my boyfriend who stands at a machine all night long for just above minimum wage. I am marching for people who need help in hospitals, for doctors, for nurses, for teachers, for the armed forces, fire services, other public sector workers and anyone else who is struggling under the reckless behaviour of our banks and financial institutions. I want those people who broke our laws in the financial crash brought to justice, their assets seized and returned to the people.” Clare Jordan

Chris McCabe is marching “for justice and against wars & the banksters’ coup”

“I’ve never been on a march before but I’ll be out on Saturday. I’m disgusted by the cuts to the Film Council and the effect it’ll have on the arts.” Jimmy Burns

“If there’s money in the Treasury reserve for war in Libya, why isn’t there money for public services? That’s why I’m marching.” Trev Fish

“I'm marching because I don't want my children to have to live in the same kind of miserable Tory world I had to endure when I was their age, a life with no prospects, no work and limited access to education. I am a member of the Socialist Party and Northampton Alliance to Defend Services, and was actively involved in the campaign against the Poll Tax under Thatcher when I was my daughter's age (18), and in supporting the miners when I was my son's age (10). My daughter hopes to go to University this September, the first member of my family ever to do so, yet she faces leaving education with a massive debt to cripple her early life. I am also marching for my clients. I am the manager of a Homeless Hostel and my vulnerable clients are having their access to benefits and health services slashed, and their home put at risk. I am also marching in solidarity with those in the middle east and across the world who are rising up against their capitalist oppressors.” Del Pickup

"I am marching on the 26th because I care.

I am appaulled at the current levels of unemployment, especially among young people. The Con/Dem Government's plans to cut public sector job, pay and pensions is unnecessary, cruel, and will ultimately do more harm than good. I am very angry with the absurd levels of tax avoidance, which the millionaire government deliberately turns a blind eye to.

I, along with over 100,000 people, want to show the Government and the big corporations that we will not take cuts to our essential services, privatisation, sale of publicly owned assets, rises in fees and brutal attacks on our trade unions.

I firmly believe that united, we can win against the government, and the March for the Alternative will hopefully earn the workers of Great Britain a place in the history books." Ed Stuttard.

Will you be on Saturday's march? Let us know why you will be marching below.