Huge crowds of striking workers marched through Manchester city centre this morning on the day of the Chancellor's Budget announcement.
Members of a number of different unions joined forces for the march down Oxford Road - one of Manchester's busiest bus routes. Junior doctors, teachers, civil servants and university staff all set off from the Manchester Royal Infirmary at 11am, before marching down Oxford Road, onto Oxford Street and to St Peter's Square.
Many carried posters, banners and placards protesting over pay, jobs, pensions, conditions and cuts. Some bus services had to be halted briefly while the march took place, while traffic was also stopped on the main road.
Workers involved included junior doctors from the British Medical Association, civil servants from the Public and Commercial Services Union, university staff from the University and College Union and teachers from the National Education Union.
This march was just one of hundreds across the country as part of a huge walkout. Up to half a million workers are believed to have taken industrial action today.
Huge numbers of strikers joined a protest outside Downing Street while the Chancellor delivered the Budget in the nearby House of Commons. Union leaders will also address a rally in Trafalgar Square and strongly criticise the government over its handling of the public sector disputes.
Talks are continuing over the row with nurses, ambulance crews and other NHS workers, but there has been no progress in resolving the disputes with junior doctors, teachers and civil servants.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Life for trio of teen thugs who murdered the 'wrong man'
- 'Our little girl went to sleep healthy, but she never woke up and we don't know why'
- Man punched stranger to the face after she called HIM out for yanking woman’s hair outside wine bar
- Police hunt man who 'grabbed woman in park before exposing himself on street'
- Inside one of Manchester's most expensive rental homes which costs an eye-watering £15,000 a month
