Mayor Lutfur Rahman will join TUC march and urges the public to do the same

Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman will join unions and protest groups in marching against government funding cuts tomorrow.

The borough’s Mayor saw his own budget including �55 million of cuts passed by councillors this month.

But in a further sign that he holds the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition responsible for the losses to public service funding, he and deputy mayor Ohid Ahmed will take part tomorrow’s march in central London. The march has been called by the Trades Union Congress and will see both Tower Hamlets MPs, Rushanara Ali and Jim Fitzpatrick; protest groups including Hands Off Our Public Services and the borough’s firefighters all out on the streets.

In a statement released this afternoon, Mr Rahman called on people in Tower Hamlets to join the demonstration.

He said: “The TUC and affiliated unions are to be congratulated on taking this initiative along with local campaigns, and other bodies.

“Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest boroughs in London and this Tory-led coalition government has imposed much deeper cuts here than much wealthier boroughs. This fits entirely with its policy of making the poor and those on middle incomes pay for a crisis which was made by the rich, especially the banks.

“This is why the demonstration is to be welcomed.” The march is expected to be the biggest public turnout in central London since the anti-war marches with between 100,000 and 300,000 people expected to take part.