Image: Protester with placard 'Tory help with cost of living - Champagne £1.60 budget cut.'

Description: On the 12 February 2022, a large demonstration was held in London against the government's complicity in the rise in the cost of living and increasing levels of inequality and poverty. It was organised by the anti-austerity organisation People's Assembly and trade unions and rallies took place in 25 cities across the UK. While the very rich have seen their wealth increase as a result of government boosting equity markets through quantitative easing as well as massive subsidies to larger businesses, the majority of the population and particularly the poor have seen their living standards decline and the current increases in energy, food and other essential living costs will hit the poorest in society the hardest. Labour MP Zarah Sultana tweeted 'The cost of living crisis is a Tory political choice: they hand bankers a £1bn-a-year tax cut while scrapping the £20-a-week universal credit uplift,' and activist Peter Tatchell similarly declared that he had 'joined today’s @pplsassembly protest against cost of living crisis, urging a #WindfallTax on energy companies. I also urged a one-off 20% #WealthTax on UK’s 171 billionaires. It would raise £120bn to fund NHS/social care.'
Title: Protester with placard 'Tory help with cost of living - Champagne £1.60 budget cut.'
Credit: Own work
Author: Alisdare Hickson
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes