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Beginning at Gower Street next to University College London, protesters marched down through Bloomsbury and Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square.

#4Demands: Health, Jobs and Education bring thousands to London's streets

LONDON, United Kingdom — On April 16, thousands of people marched through central London demanding an end to austerity, an end to Conservative Party ...

Apr 16, 2016

[slideshow][Photo by Connor Pearce/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2016/04/PanamaPapers-1-ConnorPearce.jpg);[Photo by Connor Pearce/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2016/04/PanamaPapers-2-ConnorPearce.jpg);[Photo by Connor Pearce/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2016/04/PanamaPapers-3-ConnorPearce.jpg)[/slideshow]
LONDON, United Kingdom — On April 16, thousands of people marched through central London demanding an end to austerity, an end to Conservative Party rule and in particular, the resignation of the Prime Minister David Cameron.
The protest was led by The People’s Assembly Against Austerity, a movement outside of the two main parties, with strong support from trades unions. The theme of the protest was #4Demands: health, homes, jobs and education.
Beginning at Gower Street next to University College London, protesters marched down through Bloomsbury and Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square.
Recently, there have been concerted protest movements based on each of these demands. Junior doctors and nurses have been on strike, protesting changes to their contracts and will fully walk out from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 26 and 27.
Jessica, a nurse from Canada who was attending the protest said that the reason she was there was to save the National Health Service.
“I see how great the NHS is [but] I am worried that the government is making cuts that are undermining and will ultimately break apart the integrity of the service.”
High property prices have also been the subject of protests, including rent strikes by UCL students.
These grievances have only been further inflamed by the revelations in the Panama Papers. At a time when the Conservative Party is announcing cuts to benefits and services, the knowledge that senior party members, including Mr. Cameron, have connections with the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which helped many wealthy Brits avoid paying substantial portions of their taxes, was further fodder for chants and placards.
Allison, a high school teacher from Manchester, rallied against the plan to turn U.K. schools into academies, which would mean that they receive their funding from the central government rather than local authorities. Unions have described this as privatization of education due to private trusts taking over the running of schools.
Allison also noted that with the disclosure of the Panama Papers has led to increasing anger with political and economic elites in the U.K.
After chants of “No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts!” and “Save our NHS” the Labour Party shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, spoke in front of the crowd packed into Trafalgar Square  promising that Labour would end austerity policies and stop cuts to public services.
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