LONDON — Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to protest the rising cost of living in Britain.
Huge crowds flocked to the British capital for the rally to demand the government do more to help people facing bills and other expenses that are rising faster than their wages.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for being slow to respond to the cost of living crisis. Inflation in Britain and across Europe has soared as Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupted supplies of energy and staples like wheat. Prices were already rising before the war as the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic led to strong consumer demand.
Demonstrators carried banners with messages such as “Shorten the war, not welfare.”
Ben Robinson, who works for a charity in the south London borough of Brixton, said the government is unaware of how bad it will be for the poor.
“We have residents who come into our offices and have to choose to support their own children, not themselves, their own children, and pay rent and heat,” he said. “That’s just not a choice that everyone should face, you know, in the world’s fourth largest economy.”
The TUC, a union umbrella organization that organized the protest, said its research suggests workers have lost a total of nearly £20,000 ($24,450) since 2008 because wages have not kept pace with inflation.
Johnson’s government is under intense pressure to do more to help Brits who are struggling with soaring fuel and food prices and household energy bills. In an example of the household finance crisis, a data company said the average cost of refueling a typical family car exceeds £100 (US$125).