Vishal with a copy of rs21’s new magazine

People’s Assembly demonstration – rolling coverage

Reports and updates from today’s #NoMoreAusterity demonstration in London. Follow @revsoc21 on twitter and send reports, updates and photos to revolutionarysocialism21@gmail.com

4.48pm From Brixton earlier – Curzon workers join Ritzy picket line ahead of demo

4.04pm Great view from the stage via @pplsassembly, giving some idea of the size of today’s demo:

3.42pm Vishal, a medical student from Warwick, came down on his lunch break from a conference at Kings College hospital:

I’m down in London at a conference called Medsin. Medsin was set up to organise students to fight global health inequality. Our first campaign was Jubilee Debt in 2000.

Traditionally medical students weren’t the most radical, but what this government is doing to the NHS has changed all that. Now lots of future doctors are getting involved in protests because they recognise everything they went into medicine for – ideas about equality, about healthcare for all- will be thrown into disarray by the tory privatisation agenda

I was part of the occupation at Warwick university last year against privatisation. We need to be uniting all the struggles against austerity at the moment, from the inspirational Lambeth College all-out strike to the Ritzy and cinema workers strikes.

3.20pm Short video clip of the Egypt Solidarity bloc via @bat020:

3.10pm The demo is reaching Parliament Square, with the back of the march still on Regent Street

2.14pm Great banner from Movement Against Xenophobia (MAX) gets straight to the point: “Stop blaming immigrants”

2.12pm @revsoc21 tweets:

We’re not going shopping: the #pplsassembly march on Regent Street

2.01pm Great to see Ritzy cinema workers here, from the ongoing living wage campaign

1.59pm At the assembly point, ready to move off

1.48pm As thousands march against austerity, it’s particularly jarring to note that the Queen has just given the Duke and Duchess of York a helicopter worth £8m. Twitter users note that this has, ultimately, been bought with our money.

1.44pm And here’s part of the education bloc, with a strong showing from NUT branches around the country

1.28pm @pplsassembly tweets a photo of the march assembling:

Tens of thousands here #NoMoreAusterity

1.15pm As the march assembles, there’s already a strong turnout. The FBU presence is certainly drawing a lot of attention:

Photo by Amy G