DOCTORS, nurses, teachers and firemen will be among 1,000 Oxfordshire trade union members heading to London tomorrow to campaign against Government cuts.
Organisers of the Trade Union Congress’ March for the Alternative rally hope one million people will take to the capital’s streets to demonstrate against the coalition Government’s policies.
Twenty-one coaches carrying 1,050 demonstrators will set off from Oxfordshire to join what is expected to be the largest public demonstration since the Iraq War.
Among those heading to London are doctors and nurses from Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, Fire Brigade Union members, Thames Valley Police staff and teachers from the county’s primary and secondary schools.
Civil servants, 100 BMW Cowley workers, Kraft Foods staff from Banbury, university employees, and students at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College will also attend.
Chris Bond, BMW Unite branch representative, said: “Everyone has their own different reasons for going, but the majority of us think the cuts are far too quick and far too harsh. While we are OK at the moment, the VAT increase will put people off buying things like cars, and the more people out of work, the less people there are to buy cars.”
More than 50 Ministry of Defence workers from Bicester Storage and Distribution Centre will also attend.
Les Sibley, of MoD Bicester branch 211 of Unite, said: “People are going to London to show solidarity and to say there is an alternative.
“It’s going to be a massive demonstration.”
In Oxfordshire, cuts have left libraries, youth centres and mental health services at risk as well as hundreds of public sector jobs.
Coaches will leave St Giles, Oxford, plus Banbury, Witney, Bicester, Didcot and Henley.
The march will leave Embankment at noon, pass the Houses of Parliament and finish at Hyde Park.
At a briefing at New Scotland Yard, Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens said: “Whilst we are planning for a peaceful day, we will not hesitate to respond speedily to any criminal and violent behaviour.”
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