Ritzy cinema strikers and Diane Abbott will launch a renewed fight against government austerity policies at the South London People’s Assembly in Brixton on Saturday.
The focus of this year’s event in the heart of South London will be to set up campaigning initiatives on housing, public services and the living wage.
These are particularly potent issues in the borough as housing action groups recently accused Lambeth council of ‘social cleansing’, as reported by SW Londoner.
Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney, said that the People’s Assembly is ‘an organisation right on the front line of the people’s fight to have their voices heard’.
She said: “Those most vulnerable in our society have had the rug pulled out from under them whilst bearing the burden of years of flat wages, spiralling living costs, and uncertain employment.
“It is essential that we reverse this trend.”
The South London People’s Assembly say that the government’s austerity program is ‘destroying the welfare state’ and are gathering together to discuss alternatives.
Speakers will include both national and locally-known campaigners, such as the Lambeth College strike and the Ritzy Living Wage strike, who had recent breakthrough in their pay negotiations.
Steve Turner, Executive director of policy at Unite, will join union workers and a representative from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) to discuss the fight against austerity and how to develop alternatives to it.
The day will host workshops on defending public Services, London’s housing crisis and benefit justice.
The People’s Assembly Against Austerity was established by the late Tony Benn in 2013 in response to protest the ‘impoverished and uncertain’ future faced by the ‘millions’ of Britons affected by austerity measures.
The assembly provides a national forum for anti-austerity views to be heard, and to co-ordinate protests and strikes.
The South London People’s Assembly will be held from 12-5pm at Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton on Saturday October 4.
Picture courtesy of placards-mr, with thanks
