A short report and some pictures from Ged Dempsey:
Peoples Assembly
Sheffield and our friends in the North show resistance to Camaran, Panama and Tories politics of division and austerity.
Fighting against closure of DWP in Sheffield and exporting jobs to London.
Printworkers joined with steel workers, PCS, manufacturing workers, junior doctors, teachers, DWP and our civil service. Public and private sectors uniting together against tories and companies attacks against working people, families and our communities including closures, job losses, pay cuts, bullying and privatisation.
Speakers included Mark Serwotka, shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Martin Mayer, Sheffield Cllrs .
1000s turned out from trade unions, workplaces and local communities.
Ged Dempsey
Printworker Unite the Union
John McDonnell calls for Sheffield to be ‘northern powerhouse of resistance’ and demands tax haven inquiry
Shadow chancellor called on Sheffield to be a ‘northern powerhouse of resistance’ and demanded a public inquiry into tax havens at a city centre rally.
Hundreds of people joined a march from Devonshire Green to the City Hall earlier today (Saturday, April 9), where they listened to speeches from trade unionists, a junior doctor and Labour politicians.
Mr McDonnell had the final word, heavily criticising the Government for its reaction to the steel crisis, health and education policies, the decision to close Sheffield’s department for business, skills and innovation office – seen as central to the ‘northern powerhouse’ project – and the recent revelations about offshore tax havens.
Protest march over Sheffield business office closure
Thousands of people have marched through Sheffield in protest over plans to axe 250 government jobs in the city.
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills announced in January its intention to close its office at St Paul’s Place.
It said the plan would help it cut costs but unions, city leaders and MPs have attacked the proposals.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who joined the march, described the city as one in “resistance” to government cuts.
He added: “Too much has been said by this government about northern powerhouses and there has been too little delivery.”
Read on… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-36006820
.
Rotherham Politics 
What a rabble. I had to endure this as I went in the City Hall this afternoon. I hate everything the Tories stand for, but wouldn’t want to replace with Labour either.
LikeLike
I presume the event passed peacefully as there were no counter protestors from ‘the far right’.
LikeLike
It was peaceful because there were no Pakistani Taxi Drivers demonstrating against them!!
LikeLike
I passed through here when the EDL came to Sheffield, yes the EDL were booze fuelled, but it was the left behaving violently. I also went on a peace march with the left before the Iraq war, I had to stop attending as they started to become aggressive.
LikeLike
Another lot of self important, self appointed nobodies mouthing off but in reality flogging a dead horse. Labour is so secure it doesn’t need to do anything effective and the Tories have nothing to lose or gain so in essence Sheffield is stuffed all ways.
If you want to be heard, live in a marginal constituency of the party in power.
LikeLike
look carefully in the background, where are the “thousands”. Anything to distract from the fact that the leader is useless. JD looks awfully lonely stood on his own in the crowd. The unions seem to be gaining more power, back to the seventies, I predict that if they keep jezzer, then all the current MPs will have retired by the time Labour form a Government.
LikeLike
At least in Sheffield the Cllrs and MPs support and attend rallies and picket lines with the unions and working people.
Perhaps reed and Co will take note?.
LikeLike
Unison Girl
Using words like “support”, “working people” coupled with words like “Councillors” and “MPs” is really mixing up your ideas. These posers and con men only attend these events to confirm the captive vote from, with respect, people like yourself. Basically they are just in it for what is OK for them.
It’s sad but true.
LikeLike
Reed and Co Healey Barron and Champlon will om
NLG attend if they are promised a good photo in the press only support the Unions when their is something in it for them
LikeLike
What this lot SHOULD be demonstrating about is the disgusting way the Sheffield City Region has been forced on us without ANY consultation of voters and residents of South Yorkshire, not demonstrating against cuts forced on us by the uselessness of the previous Labour government, Brown and Blair who got us into this mess in the first place.
And before any of you Lanbourites start, when a country has been bankrupted to the extent Brown left us in, it will obviously take decades to rectify!!
LikeLike