Demonstrations were organized in several cities in the United Kingdom, Saturday, February 12, to protest against soaring prices and the decline in purchasing power. In London’s Westminster borough, around 2,000 people gathered to demand action and testify.
With our correspondent in London, Marie Boeda
” Freeze prices, not the poor. » « Tax the rich. The posters announce the color. In the government district, on a sunny lawn with Big Ben in the background, Denise, with short gray hair and small round glasses, listens to the members of the associations speak. For this retiree, the situation is unfair. “ I oppose raising prices when it is not necessary, she justifies herself. The price of my energy explodes and the price of my food explodes so I reduce my pace of life. For example, I see my father less, I don’t travel anymore, I use the heating less. »
Same for Charlotte, except that she is a student and she works at the same time. It’s getting hard to pay London rent. “ I try to buy a lot of frozen food because it’s cheaper and nothing fresh because it’s going way too high, like salads and fresh vegetables in general, she explains. You have to look carefully at what you buy. »
Anger against the government
Rachel, a nurse at the NHS, the public hospital, agrees. She is angry with Boris Johnson that doesn’t tax the right people, she says, and does nothing to mitigate the decline in purchasing power.
Former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was present among the demonstrators, gathered at the call of the anti-austerity movement People’s Assembly, supported by several unions. Other protests were planned across the rest of the UK, from Glasgow, Scotland, to Cardiff, Wales, to Manchester in northern England.
From April, the Minister of the Economy announced an increase in social security contributions and electricity and gas bills will rise by 54%. The Bank of England has warned that inflation, already at a 30-year high of 5.4% in the UK at the end of 2021, could climb to 7.25% by April and is unlikely to return to normal levels. before two years.
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