Thousands march in London calling for a general election

Thousands of people marched through central London calling for a general election and an end to “Tory austerity” as part of the ‘Britain is Broken’ protest organised by the People’s Assembly on Saturday, November 5. The People’s Assembly is a predominantly left-wing national campaign comprised of multiple groups who are all against austerity, cuts and privatisation.

Whilst the People’s Assembly claims to not be linked to any political party, the majority of the people attending the demonstration in London were open supporters of the Labour party. There was also a vocal minority in attendance who were representing various Socialist and Communist groups. All groups were calling for a general election. 

There were many supporting groups at the protest organised by the People’s Assembly including CND, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. The protest finished off in Trafalgar Square with several speakers addressing the crowd. Notable speakers included Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who said the government would have to listen to the protesters calling for improved pay and workers rights.

Several self-proclaimed anti-racism groups attended the march and demanded the removal of Suella Braverman as home secretary. She has been heavily criticised for comments made last week about Britain’s broken migration system in which she referred to the situation along the Kent coast as an ‘invasion’. Throughout the protest there was an open call for a more relaxed migration policy with a large proportion of people calling for the UK to adopt an open borders immigration policy.