British government cuts spending, people protest loudly

On October 20, tens of thousands of people marched through London and other British cities to protest government spending cuts.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) - the organization leading the protest - said about 100,000 people participated in the 4.8km long parade on October 20. However, this number has not been confirmed by the police.

Protesters carried slogans such as "No cuts" to condemn the austerity measures introduced by the coalition of British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking to a crowd gathered in Hyde Park, Ed Miliband - the leader of the opposition Labour Party - attacked Prime Minister Cameron for "cutting too deep and too fast". "He is sticking to an economic plan that is not working," Miliband said.

In addition to the capital London, two other protests took place in the Scottish city of Glasgow and Belfast in Northern Ireland on October 20.

Britain emerged from the economic crisis in late 2009 but fell back into recession in late 2011, according to AFP.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the budget cuts are necessary to reduce the country's huge budget deficit. Shortly after taking office in 2010, Cameron's government slashed budgets by a fifth across almost all departments. However, the prime minister has been criticised for other harsh fiscal policies, such as tripling university tuition fees and virtually freezing civil servants' pay.

Mr Cameron's Conservative Party is also seen as the "party of the rich" and has almost no connection with middle-class voters.

In addition to opposing the spending cuts, protesters on October 20 also gathered outside major UK-based companies such as McDonald's, Starbucks, Topshop and Vodafone near the Oxford Street shopping center. These companies are accused of tax evasion, especially Starbucks, which has paid only nearly $13.8 million in taxes during its 14 years of operation here.

British police said they had arrested two of the protesters outside the store.

According to Tuoi Tre - DT