Europe

Europe

Thousands strike against UK welfare cuts

01 July 2011 02:24 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Hundreds of thousands of British workers in the public sector joined a strike Thursday to protest against the governmentâ€™s planned pension reforms and austerity measures, APA reports quoting news.xinhaunet.com website.

Airports were the among the first hits as customs officers joined the 24-hour strike on Wednesday evening, causing some delays for passengers.

Around 4,600 schools, roughly a third of the total, were closed on Thursday due to the strike.

The rally, marching along the capitalâ€™s main streets and through the main government district of Whitehall, attracted up to 15,000 demonstrators.

Protests also took place in other major cities such as Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Birimingham and Bristol with the Birmingham witnessed the biggest at 10,000 protesters.

"I am really angry about my pension. I am really angry about working hard and losing money, basically, and living the end of my life in poverty. After having given a lot to my country and looking after children and being a public servant, thatâ€™s what I get, thatâ€™s the thanks I get. I didnâ€™t even vote for this government," Sarah Todd, a teacher taking part in the rally told Xinhua.

British Prime Minister David Cameron criticized the protest as "wrong" and said that the country could not afford to pay generous pensions to public sector workers without those workers contributing more themselves.

British opposition leader Ed Miliband also said the strike was a "mistake" and called for further talks between unions and the government.

The strike on Thursday is the latest sign of opposition to the coalition governmentâ€™s austerity plan. The centre-right government announced last October 81 billion pounds (130 billion U.S. dollars) worth of cuts in public spending over four years.