Diary – Sunday 4th October 2015 – Anti-Austerity March

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Today was dominated by the Anti-Austerity March in Manchester where I joined an estimated 60,000 protesters marching peacefully on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference in the city in protest at much despised government cutbacks in jobs and welfare. I joined friends, getting to them with difficulty through the sheer volume of people marching, and we joined the relaxed friendly masses walking through the sunshine to make the words ‘end this’ loud and clear. Given recent sensational media reports about our Prime Minister, David Cameron, performing unmentionable acts with a pig, many marchers were dressed as pigs or bearing pig related slogans and placards. TV's Peppa Pig cartoons may never seem the same again. A full size wooden Trojan horse model was also used in the march. There were pre-march speeches and songs including a full concert by radical pop-singer Billy Bragg who was as brilliant as ever. After the march I joined friends who had walked as well in a pub, The Oxnoble, changing its name back from The Ox and putting its prices up a lot) and we went for a meal at a Chinese all you can eat buffet before I came home, hoping the government realizes its austerity measures are not welcome. Arthur Chappell