We asked readers to share their experiences of the March for the Alternative. Here is an edited selection of their comments
manchesterboy
I was there! What an amazing atmosphere, I travelled all the way from Manchester but it was well worth it. The march proved that we are indeed the mainstream majority, [and that] our lives will be made worse by the savage cuts. The rally was also incredible, I've never seen Hyde Park so packed and it was all people in favour of the anti-cuts movement; I even saw Tony Benn milling around!
tybo
I marched and it was fantastic. Many if not most of the people were not marching because of their own interests but because they see our public services being shredded and the National Health Service being readied for privatisation. It is true that I stand to lose my job organising volunteers in support of vulnerable elderly people through the cuts. But actually that would quite suit me if I was to be selfish about it. I would get a chunk of redundancy money, which would help me realise my ambition to move up to the Hebrides. However, we have around 90 clients, many of whom depend on the support we give them. We have around 30 volunteers who get a lot out of assisting vulnerable elderly people. Many of our older people wanted to go on the march but they decided that the size and possibility of trouble made it a bad idea. So I was marching for them.
BeautifulBurnout
I walked more than three miles with half a million others because every benefit I have had from the welfare state ? free schooling, virtually free higher education, healthcare free at the point of delivery and instantly available no matter whether I have the right insurance or not, a fire brigade or ambulance service that will turn up to my house in reasonable time should I require it, a police service that will protect me, etc etc ? is going to be denied to the next generation for ? well, what reason exactly?
So that rightwing free market ideologues can open up all those markets that the US have been whining to the World Trade Organisation about for decades; for some ideological principal that says people should pay less tax and privately fund only the services they need and want, and screw the collective community if they cannot afford to pay their insurance; that puts money in the pockets of the very richest in society, while the very poorest will be expected to step up or die out; that any public provision will not be on the basis of the most needy, but on the basis of who those in control consider to be the most deserving.
My middle-aged feet are killing me, but I will march again and again until they are bruised and bleeding ? not for me, but for everyone else.
Liberalwiththetruth
The best slogan for the march was "We are the coalition for resistance". And that is the truth. There was no overarching single issue. Everyone was there because they were being affected in some way individually, but what was very strange about the march was this: there were very many members of the intelligentsia. Lecturers, journalists, people from the media, students, doctors, in addition to all the public service workers from the front line and civil servants.
Why is it that when the majority of the intelligentsia of a country are against the government strategy and argue cogently and decisively against it, the impression we get from all media outlets except the Guardian is that the intelligentsia is not facing up to the "reality" of the deficit problem?
The point is not that we oppose economics. The point is that the right in the UK is on the attack. It is not a matter of deficit reduction: the priorities of the people making the cuts are wrong. The taxation policy of the people making the cuts is wrong.
MattB75
I marched with those who look after your grandparents when they're unwell and those who help deliver your children, educate them and help them cross the road. Those who collect the rubbish from your bins and those who will protect your house if it is on fire. The people that police our streets, light our streets and keep our streets clean. The British citizens who care for those who cannot care for themselves and with hundreds of thousands of people who care about the railways, the forests, our theatres, the BBC World Service and who help those who can't find a job.
It suits those with power very well to highlight the behaviour of some idiots. They know the truth, as we did on Saturday, that the march really could be the start of a fightback against economic and social vandalism.
Boodge
It was a great march, for the most part. Always warms my heart when you realise how many nice, normal, caring people there are out there ? about 500,000 people walking along in complete amity. Not all wanting the same thing, but all having the same commitment to our civil, welfare state at heart.
It's a shame about the usual anarchist troublemakers, and the publicity-hungry UK Uncut. I think it's wrong to blame the press for covering the violence and occupations ? it's newsworthy. Organisations like UK Uncut need to get their heads out of the sand, and stay away from other people's demos.
Fordinian
I was there. Partly I was there for myself, I am a teacher and my livelihood is bound up with the public sector ? why would I not seek to protect my income and my pension? I believe I do a job for not a vast amount of money. I educate children and I also act as part of a childcare service that enables other adults to go to work secure in the knowledge that their children are safe and as happy as I can make them. What I do is useful to society and I believe I should be recompensed by society for what I do.
I was also there to stand up for other people, many of whom were not there ? some because they do not understand what the cuts will do to them, some because they could not have attended such an event.
I'd be happy to pay more tax for a more just, more equitable society. I'd also like others to pay their fair share of tax, too.
jannny1
I marched for my local West Norwood One O'Clock club which is under threat by Lambeth Council. Our club has been going for 45 years, it provides free play services four afternoons a week. Unlike Sure Start children's centres we don't run any particular session, the play sessions are for everyone to bring their under-fives to play in a safe environment. We have two staff, Ann the manager and one pool member of staff. It's a great place for kids and parents/carers to come and know their children are getting interaction with other kids and the parents get support (if wanted) from staff and other parents.
However, I also marched because I am worried at what is happening to our public services. But most of all I went to voice my disgust at the way this government is going about the changes. Too fast and too quick.
fabflora
As a veteran protester, it made me feel proud to be part of a reawakened workers' movement. We must not allow the establishment to criminalise the younger, more extreme element . Their actions were brave and legitimate. If I were younger, I might have joined them, if I was facing a future with so little hope. The education cuts are the most serious of all.
Anyman
The TUC march for an "alternative" and for "fairness" was absolutely exceptional in attendance, with supporters from all over the country. And so moving in noting the sheer variety of people young and old, families with toddlers, disabled people in wheelchairs or with walking sticks. I was so impressed with union leaders passionately encouraging in accents that you just knew originated from Britain's true heart. And still a neverending stream with colourful banners came marchers and campaigners for "fairness" hour after hour with such positive vibes, vuvuzelas, whistles, chants and determined demeanour all knowing that the march had to send out its alternative message to a discredited Tory-led coalition government.
cowshedshuffle
The tone of the live news reports, which my friends, colleagues and I saw in a pub after hearing several speeches in Hyde Park, came as quite a surprise. Anyone who saw these rolling news clips might well have thought that the whole of central London was full of anarchists dressed like the man in the Milk Tray ads, spraying paint on every shop front and committing chemical warfare by ammonia-filled lightbulb. Well, I can tell you that the vast majority of us committed a collective act of good, old-fashioned civil disobedience in an entirely peaceful, completely non-threatening way. If you don't believe me, ask the other 100/200/500,000.
By Christ, we did it in style. The streets of London were full of people dressed in colourful clothes, waving colourful banners, chanting in a non-profane way, smiling, laughing, conversing with each other. It felt uplifting to be part of such positivity. Even the Met coppers lining the pavements at strategic points were smiling and nodding to the marchers. They probably felt the same way.
I am very proud to have taken part in this protest.
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