Thousands expected to attend London rally to demand general election

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Thousands of people are expected to hold a demonstration in London on Saturday, demanding an immediate general election, as well as action to combat the worsening cost of living crisis.

Trade unions and community organisations will take part in the protest, which will include a march around parliament, said its organisers, the People’s Assembly campaign group.

“The government is in a deep crisis and the third prime minister in a matter of months has been decided by a tiny elite. We want to make this the biggest demonstration possible to force them to a general election and in solidarity with every striking worker,” said Ramona McCartney, the national organiser for the People’s Assembly.

“We want working class people to join us on this day to demonstrate how angry and determined we are, and fight the new wave of austerity the government is forcing on us.”

A rally will be held, with speakers including Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, whose members had planned to strike on Saturday in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions – until the action was suspended on Friday.

The People’s Assembly said the protesters would be demanding an immediate general election, action on low pay and the repeal of “anti-union” employment laws.

The Conservative party maintains it has a mandate to form the government because of its Commons majority and is under no statutory obligation to call a general election until 2024.

But some have suggested two changes of leadership since the 2019 general election – decided upon by the party alone, as well as internal debates over whether to continue to honour the manifesto on which the party was elected three years ago – mean that mandate is severely outdated and undermined.

The former Labour MP Laura Pidcock, now the national secretary of the People’s Assembly, said: “This Tory government is now totally unaccountable, but outrage is not enough.

“We have to come together as a movement to organise on the streets and in our communities, and show that our voices will not be silenced and that we want fundamental changes to the way our country is run.

“We will not get that from the politicians. We will only get that from the strength of a united, vibrant movement of working class people coming together, building together and making change together.”

Anti-racism groups also plan to join the march, demanding the removal of Suella Braverman as home secretary. She has been heavily criticised recently for her rhetoric towards people who have tried to come to live in the UK from abroad and her handling of the crisis at the asylum processing centre at Manston in Kent.