More than 5,000 people took to the streets of London on Wednesday to take part in a march and rally to mark May Day.

The marchers gathered at Clerkenwell Green in the east of the city, outside the Karl Marx Memorial Library, where Lenin worked on the magazine Iskra during his exile in London in the early part of the 20th century.

From there they marched three kilometers to Trafalgar Square led by an impromptu band and marching behind trade union and socialist banners.

The lead banner, carried by the London May Day Organizing Committee, called for "Trade Union Rights; Human Rights; International Solidarity."

Among the organizations present on the march were Britain's two largest unions, Unison and Unite, as well as trades unionists from Turkey and Greece, and representatives of socialist groups and workers from across Britain.

Under high-profile police surveillance, the marchers rallied in Trafalgar Square where they were addressed by trades unionists.

Veteran George Durach of the Islington Pensioners Association, told Xinhua, "I come every year. This is the day when workers should be free to stand up and to demonstrate. The issues in Britain today are benefits cuts and the austerity measures of the government."

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)