Thousands gather for anti-austerity demonstration in London

Thousands of people have gathered in London to "send a message" to the government with a demonstration over spending cuts and welfare reform.

Campaign group The People's Assembly said trade unionists, campaigners and activists attended the event in central London on Saturday.

Members of parliament Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott were among those who gave speeches at a rally in Whitehall.

The organizers accused the government of making spending cuts that target the poorest in society.

Representatives from the National Education Union, Revolutionary Communist Party, Green Party and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union could all be seen at the march's start point.

The large crowd then set off towards Whitehall shortly before 1 pm (1200 GMT).

Many of the protesters were holding placards that read "Tax the rich, stop the cuts – welfare not warfare."

Other signs being held aloft said "Nurses not nukes" and "Cut war, not welfare."

A People's Assembly spokesperson said: "The adherence to 'fiscal rules' traps us in a public service funding crisis, increasing poverty, worsening mental health and freezing public sector pay."

"Real tough choices would be for a Labour government to tax the rich and their hidden wealth, to fund public services, fair pay, investment in communities and the NHS [National Health Service]."

Speaking at the Whitehall rally, former Labour leader Corbyn said: "As the wars rage around the world – the killing fields in Ukraine and Russia, the abominable, deliberate starvation of children in Gaza and the genocide that's inflicted against the Palestinian people continues – surely to goodness we need a world of peace."

"We need a world of peace that will come through the vision of peace, the vision of disarmament and the vision of actually challenging the causes of war, which leads to the desperation and the refugee flows of today," he said.

Corbyn urged protesters to "go forward as a movement of hope, of what we can achieve together [and] the society we can build together."

Veteran Labour member of parliament Abbott criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer's comments on immigration as "fundamentally racist" and suggested the government was copying the rhetoric of right-wing populist Reform UK.

She said: "I was very disturbed to hear Keir Starmer on the subject of immigration."

"He talked about closing the book on a squalid chapter for our politics – immigrants represent a squalid chapter. He talked about how he thought immigration has done incalculable damage to this green and pleasant land, which, of course, is nonsense – immigrants built this land. And, finally, he said we risk becoming an island of strangers."

"I thought that was a fundamentally racist thing to say. It is contrary to Britain's history," she added.

"My parents came to this country in the 50s. They were not strangers. They helped to build this country," Abbott said.

"I think Keir Starmer is quite wrong to say that the way that you beat Reform is to copy Reform."

The People's Assembly said trade unionists, health, disability, housing and welfare campaigners with community organizations were being brought together for the protest under the slogan "No to Austerity 2.0."

The group's spokesperson added: "We face a growing threat from the far right, fuelled by racism, division and failed politics. We need to see people's lives improve, we need to see the vulnerable cared for and an end to child poverty."

"On June 7, we march for education, for our NHS, for welfare, for refugees, against hate, and for a society in which our children can flourish."