Workers in more than 50 cities across England, Wales and Scotland joined Britain's largest trade union mobilisation since the mass strike over pensions in 2011.
More than 2 million public sector workers took part in marches in their local cities, while others maintained pickets of public sector buildings and local authorities.
The main issue driving the mass strike was the meagre 1% pay rise offered by the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition government. This amount to a wage cut the soaring living costs workers have been experiencing in the past several years are factored in.
Britain
Scotland will vote on independence from Britain September 18. Despite a strong campaign by establishment figures for a 鈥渘o鈥 vote, polls showing growing support for independence, although still not a majority.
Below, Colin Fox explains why Scottish independence will be a blow to austerity and a win for working people. Fox is the nation spokesperson for Scottish Socialist Party and a former member of Scottish parliament, and sits on the Yes Scotland advisory board.
When Gerry Conlon died on June 21, it reminded the world once more of the cases of the Guilford Four and the Birmingham Six, Irish people framed for bombings in England they had noting to do with.
鈥淲hen Gerry Conlon, who has died aged 60 of lung cancer, met survivors of the US's Guant谩namo Bay detention camp, he found that their 21st-century experiences mirrored his in the 1970s,鈥 about the Belfast-born Conlon who passed away on June 21.
It seems to have been decided that the best response to the success of Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party that won 27.45% of the vote in the May European elections, is to try to copy him.
The Tories will soon reveal that one of their councillors declared that 鈥渢he shape of a Romanian鈥檚 spine proves he鈥檚 actually a type of stinging nettle鈥 on an election leaflet, but it was a mistake anyone could make, especially as the councillor had an earache at the time.
For the past five years, we have heard a great deal of rhetoric from British politicians about the 鈥渢ough choices鈥 that the financial crisis has imposed on the nation.
Again and again, we heard that this crisis affected everyone equally, and that all of us were rowing together to put it right and share the burden and hardship.
Campaigners for Scottish independence have received another boost as a branch of the public sector trade union Unison sided 鈥減ositively with the Yes side鈥 in a debate on Scotland's September 18 referendum on whether to remain part of Britain.
The newly formed Left Unity party held its first major policy conference in Manchester on March 29, following its founding conference in November last year. The party has its origins in a call for a new party to the left of Labour made by veteran left-wing filmmaker Ken Loach.
鈥淚n a few short months,鈥 principle speaker for Left Unity Salman Shaheen said in a March 31 , the new party 鈥渉as attracted more than 1,800 members. With a new member joining every 10 minutes over the weekend, the party is going from strength to strength.鈥
Thousands of people protested against British Conservative Chancellor George Osborne's budget on March 19, the Morning Star the next day. The protests were part of a national day of action called by the People's Assembly.
Across Britain, there were marches, rallies and festivals demanding a people's budget for Britain.
The People鈥檚 Assembly Against Austerity was launched last year to help create a mass movement across Britain against the austerity measures imposed by the government in a bid to make ordinary people pay for the economic crisis. It was supported by quite a few trade unions, the Coalition of Resistance, many campaign groups and several MPs.
The older you get, apparently, the more you abandon the daft socialist ideas of your youth to become sensible and conservative. There will never be a greater retort to this miserable myth than the life of Tony Benn.
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