#demonstrations.

The junior doctors' and teachers' march heads for Whitehall (Pic: @KeepNHSpublic)

Thousands of junior doctors, teachers and their supporters marched from the picket line at St Thomas’ Hospital opposite parliament to Downing Street, today, Tuesday.

The demonstration was organised by the London region of the NUT teachers’ union and the junior doctors’ British Medical Association (BMA) in London.

The demo comes at the end of the BMA’s first ten-hour “full walkout” against Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s imposition of a dangerous new contract.

It was a mass show of strength and solidarity—and there was a real sense that the tide is shifting against the Tories. Anna, a junior doctor at St Thomas’, told Socialist Worker, “We need to look at what the Tory agenda is—it’s privatisation. The public need to support us in order to challenge it.”

The demo was led by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, despite the Labour right’s pressure.

Danny, a junior doctor at Homerton hospital in east London said, “This will make a difference. It’s significant that the leader of the opposition is showing their support.”

Labour's leaders headed up the march (Pic: Socialist Worker)

Jack, a junior doctor at Barts in east London, said, “The fact we have support has given us strength to stick together and to keep fighting. Everyone in the public sector has been squeezed—and together we can have an impact.”

Ruth, an NUT member in Tower Hamlets, said, “We’ve got a big fight coming over forced academisation. It’s a similar process to what’s happening with the junior doctors.”

Tory plans to force every school in England to become an academy, and devastating funding cuts have caused deep opposition from teachers. Ruth said, “I went to an NUT meeting last night. Normally we have 20 people there—last night we had 150.”

Ready for the struggle: junior doctors and teachers together (Pic: Emma D)

The huge People’s Assembly demonstration today, Saturday, is a sign of the deep anger against the Tories. It also shows the potential for a rising curve of struggle that can inflict serious defeats on the divided, reeling government.

It was a great day. It will help build the anti-austerity movement. Steve Turner, the national chair of the People’s Assembly, announced that 150,000 had taken part.

Mark Turner, a steel worker from South Wales spoke for many when he told the final rally, “This Tory government can go to Panama and stay there”.

There is also a growing sense that the enemy is not just one man or one party. It’s a system.

The Panama papers lifted the lid on a nest of very rich people and corporations who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and power.

But nobody should underestimate how important it would be to force out David Cameron. It would be a massive victory, and it's an urgent task.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said, “We need change, we need to get the Tories out. It's not enough to say that David Cameron must go, we don't want a PM Johnson or Osborne or May."

Scared

There is hope in Labour under Jeremy Corbyn. Unite leader Len McCluskey said, “We now have a Labour leadership fighting for ordinary people in parliament and on the streets.

“The attacks on Jeremy Corbyn are despicable. The right attack him not because they think he'll lose but because they're scared he'll win.

“I've got a message to the Panamanian Conservative Party, slope off to your tax havens and leave ordinary people alone.”

Jeremy Corbyn sent a solidarity message, “Austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity. We need an alternative economic strategy which works for all, not for the few. Solidarity to the junior doctors and steel workers fighting to save the steel industry.

“We forced them back on working tax credits, we forced them to put PIP back in the budget. There's power in our hands to change society.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said, “For too long Labour leaders have been embarrassed by their association with the movement on the streets. Whether it's in parliament or on the picket line, this leadership will be with you.

“We will end austerity. We will halt the privatisation of the NHS. We will build hundreds of thousands of council homes that we need.

“We will introduce a fair taxation system and make the rich and corporations pay their fair share.

"We're committed to scrapping Trident if we can win the argument in the party.”

McDonnell: For too long Labour leaders have been embarrassed by their association with the movement on the streets

Such words are hugely welcome. Who was the last shadow chancellor to march alongside the demonstrators and to give such pledges? Certainly nobody in recent decades.

Corbyn’s victory has brought refreshing change and boosted the willingness and the confidence to fight.

But there is a problem. Labour is not with the junior doctors on the picket line. Some of its leaders, such as John McDonnell certainly are. But the party as a whole is not. Its MPs, in the main, are still wary of strikes.

Labour has not called demonstrations over the steel crisis. And Labour councils still impose cuts—and the party does not support those who strike against them.

There are no guarantees that Labour will abandon its support for Trident—especially as union leaders such as Len McCluskey want it maintained.

We need to keep pushing for struggle, and for a movement that can drive out the Tories before 2020’s general election.

There were three very common themes on the demonstration, three focuses for action.

Nearly everyone on the march mentioned the junior doctors’ battle. Their next strikes on the 26 and 27 April must become a focus for increased solidarity. Everyone can go to the picket lines, and trade unionists must push their union leaders to stop standing on the sidelines and offer real support—encourage their members to the picket lines, organise lunchtime protests, and start other disputes.

The NUT teachers’ union is balloting for strikes against forced academies and funding cuts. A complete victory over the Tories would unravel the most high-profile remaining element of George Osborne’s last disastrous budget. Everyone has to do all they can to help them win. If possible, they should strike alongside the doctors.

There was strong support on the march for refugees and against racism. Our movement must not be divided. Next week’s Trade Unionists for Calais meeting and the 18 June convoy to Calais organised by Stand Up to Racism, the People’s Assembly, trade unions, the Muslim Association of Britain and the Stop the War Coalition will be an important focus.

Several thousand people took to the streets of Naples to reject the visit of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Renzi is in Naples to discuss plans for redeveloping a former industrial area of the city. Local citizens of Naples are angry that they have been excluded from any decision-making process and perceive the project to only be a benefit for big business and not the community.

The procession was led by a banner saying “Napoli distrusts Renzi’s government.” People carried a larger than life-size effigy of Renzi as Pinnochio and also denouced the Jobs Act and education restructuring that have been points of contention against the Renzi administration.