Labour defends Miliband cuts speech

Business secretary Vince Cable says huge turnout at TUC march in London will not knock government’s cuts strategy off-course Labour has defended Ed Miliband’s part in Saturday’s peaceful TUC march and rally in London against government spending cuts as the cleanup continued of symbols of wealth damaged by a minority of anarchists. Senior opposition figures condemned the “unrepresentative hooligans” whose behaviour threatened to overshadow the protests of hundreds of thousands of others. Michael Fallon, the deputy Conservative party chairman, accused Labour of “the laughable fiction” that it had “left the country some sort of golden economic legacy” while the business secretary, Vince Cable, told the BBC that while the government was listening to the trade unions, it would not change its strategy because of yesterday’s march. Just over 200 people were arrested and 84 people injured, including 31 police officers, as trouble flared in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadily and Trafalgar Square, with banks, the Ritz Hotel and upmarket food store Fortnum and Mason among the targets. Attempts were made to damage the Olympic clock in the square and police said they were attacked by missiles including water bottles, coins and lightbulbs filled with ammonia. Alleged offences included criminal damage, aggravated trespass and violent disorder. Eleven police officers required hospital treatment. Injuries were said to be relatively minor, including cuts and bruises, suspected whiplash and a possible broken collar bone. London’s deputy mayor Kit Malthouse condemned those involved in the violence as “fascist agitators”. Miliband told the crowds on Saturday: “We come in the traditions that have marched in peaceful but powerful protest for justice, fairness and political change. “The suffragettes who fought for votes for women and won. The civil rights movement in America that fought against racism and won. The anti-apartheid movement that fought the horror of that system and won.” Speaking on the BBC’s The Politics Show, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy condemned those involved in the separate clashes in the West End as a “tiny minority of violent, parasitic unrepresentative hooligans”. Asked if Miliband should have associated himself with the rally, he said: “You can’t get to a point where a prominent politician, the leader of the Labour party, isn’t able to go on a demonstration against government cuts.” Pressed over the language surrounding apartheid and the civil rights movement, Murphy said: “Ed has said these were different causes at different times. The size of the demonstration yesterday was enormous and it was a reflection of the comparison of scale.” Tory deputy chairman Fallon claimed Labour had “once again” shown “breathtaking levels of deceit over the economy” and that the party’s plans would mean “spending reductions of just over £2bn less than the coalition’s in the financial year starting in just over a week”. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the march – the biggest union-organised protest in a generation – exceeded expectations. “It now looks like close to half a million people came to London to express their peaceful but powerful opposition to the government’s deep, rapid and unfair spending cuts. “We are proud of the way that we organised our march and the way that our stewards helped ensure a good-natured and friendly event. Of course we condemn the small numbers who came looking for violence but we will not allow their actions away from our event to detract from our campaign. “With the budget a damp squib, the economy faltering and the NHS reforms becoming more unpopular each and every day, marchers will have returned home determined to step up their democratic campaign against policies that neither government party put before the electorate at the last election.” Malthouse, who chairs the Metropolitan Police Authority, said the police had a “difficult balance” to strike, claiming anarchists – “a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs” – were intent on “rampaging” around London’s West End. He told BBC Radio 4′s The World this Weekend: “We should all be angry that what was a peaceful and legitimate protest was hijacked by about 250 criminals, many of whom I am pleased to say have now been arrested, for violent insurrection means.” Asked about criticisms over police intelligence, Malthouse said: “I think that would be unfair. I realise in these situations that the armchair generals tend to come out but the truth is the police did a huge amount of work with businesses in the West End, and indeed preparing for the event. We put 4,500 police officers out there … but it was a very, very fast-moving afternoon. “I counted these anarchists myself. They were a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs on Piccadilly and it was pretty obvious that they were intent on rampaging around and would be very difficult to control. “In the end they were contained … there is a difficult balance because they were intermingling with, and were in amongst, getting on for 400,000 TUC protesters. “Without disrupting the march it would have been very difficult to isolate them and take them out. The truth is the police had to respond to when criminal damage was done and they did so.” He added: “We need to learn the lessons to make sure it doesn’t happen again but also recognise that when you get a group of fascist agitators who want a fight there is not a lot you can do about it other than confront them.” Public sector cuts Protest Public services policy Public finance London TUC Trade unions Ed Miliband Labour James Meikle guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 27, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.