Protest, resistance and strikes will accompany the party’s meeting in Birmingham this weekend.
Tories heading to Birmingham for their annual party conference will be greeted by what is expected to be thousands of protestors, as the furious backlash against the chancellor’s mini budget and Liz Truss’s fledgling premiership continues.
Organised by the anti-austerity campaign group The People’s Assembly, protestors will gather close to the conference venue, the International Convention Centre. Coaches will ferry campaigners to Birmingham from around the UK, including London, Liverpool, Stoke and Blackburn. A number of high-profile figures are speaking at the protest, including representatives from Black Lives Matter, Unison and the Assembly.
Among them is RMT Union leader Mick Lynch.
“The Tory government need to recognise that we will not meekly accept a cost-of-living crisis that was not of our making,” he said.
“The rich have never been richer and now their friends in the Conservative Party are rewarding them further with tax cuts and increased access to our public services. We are building a strong working-class voice on the streets of Britain that is united and determined to fight for jobs and decent pay.”
Speaking to Birmingham Live, Ramona McCartney, the People’s Assembly national organiser, said: “It has been a truly awful few days – people have been left reeling by the crisis that was triggered by the mini budget, and since then the government has just been missing in action.
“The rally in Birmingham will be the chance to show the Conservative delegates how deeply harmful their actions are proving for ordinary people.”
Enough is Enough
Ahead of Sunday’s protest, Enough is Enough rallies are taking place in cities across the country on October 1, including Norwich, Sheffield and Manchester. Organised by the People’s Assembly, the rallies are part of a Day of Action called by Enough is Enough. Founded by trade unions and community organisers, the Enough is Enough campaign is aimed at fighting the cost of living crisis and pushing back the misery forced on millions by rising bills, shoddy housing, food poverty and low wages.
The marches are in protest of the soaring cost of energy and fuel, with protestors calling for maximum unity and solidarity with campaigns around the cost of living crisis and the attacks on ordinary people and workers.
Rail and postal unions, including the RMT, CWU and ASLEF, are also heading to the picket lines this weekend. Drivers at 12 rail companies will join the strike action, which is part of a long-running dispute over pay. The industrial action threatens to throw the Tory Party Conference further into chaos.
Though with Rishi Sunak and a number of Tory MPs set to miss this year’s party conference amid unrest and fallout over the government’s highly controversial economic plan, it looks like the Tories don’t need much help in throwing their conference into chaos.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
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