The battle against austerity will come to the streets of London this Saturday as thousands march against cuts and privatisation

On 20th October, thousands of people from across the country will march together in defence of public services and the welfare state, whose very survival is threatened by austerity.

In response to pressure from workers and campaign groups like Coalition of Resistance (CoR), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has at last taken the lead in calling for a national demonstration against the cuts.

The TUC march is a great opportunity for the movement to create what we need to win: the broadest possible united front. Already community and anti-cuts groups are joining unions in calling for nationwide mobilisation.

This cannot be left to unionists and activists alone. For many of us – students, the unemployed, the sick, the elderly – these cuts threaten rights on which we rely. And all these elements must be represented on the demonstration.

But in reality, we all have cause to resist. Profit and power they will privatise, and the only thing they want to socialise is mountainous debt they created. Far from saving the economy, austerity is strangling it and fatally weakening the democracy in which we are all stakeholders.

Education is being corporatised, the NHS dismantled and law enforcement privatised. With 90 per cent of promised cuts still to come, Britain will be unrecognisable in ten years’ time unless these reforms are met with uncompromising popular opposition.

But the government finds itself in a weak position. It may not survive its full term and recent polls suggest the majority of the public are disappointed with its performance.

A million-strong march could tip the balance. It will strengthen the unions and the movement as a whole, shoring up our struggle for a future that works not for the City, but for the people.