Scottish Communists

More than 20,000 Scots marched across Edinburgh at the weekend, promising to defy the cuts in the biggest show of resistance since the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Organised by the STUC, the demonstration on Saturday brought together all the major trade unions, calling for a living wage, fair taxation and the protection of public services.

Workers from across the public and private sectors waved banners and sang folk songs as they descended to the foot of Edinburgh Castle to hear speakers from trade union movement, pensioner's forums and church leaders spell out the alternative to cuts.

STUC general secretary Grahame Smith praised the crowd for the huge turnout and called on the government to clamp down on big business tax avoidance to pay for the deficit instead of cutting jobs.

"You've responded in massive numbers today and in so doing you're sending out a message to the Con-Dem government that we don't believe its lies and we will not accept its cuts," he said.

Mr Smith had a message for Liberal Democrats and their leader Nick Clegg: "If you act like a Tory and talk like a Tory, then you are Tory."

Promising full STUC support for union members taking industrial action to defend their jobs, Mr Smith called for a "fleet of Scottish coaches" to head to London to support the TUC demonstration on March 26.

PCS union spokeswoman Jo Dunn accused the coalition of "knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing" as they hack away at the welfare state.

Highlighted the 2.5 million people living under £171 a week, the official poverty line, Scottish Pensioners Forum chairwoman Elinor McKenzie warned the number would increase in light of the cuts.

Scottish marchers were given a stark warning by Irish Congress of Trade Unions president Jack O'Connor of the wide-scale destruction of industry and housing repossessions since the financial crisis in Ireland.

"They did it to us. Don't let them do it to you too," he said.

The marchers gave their support to striking London firefighters and the thousands around Britain who were attending regional anti-cuts demonstrations.