Anti-cuts groups pelted Downing Street with balls in protest against austerity, as Chancellor George Osborne delivered his first all-Tory Budget.
The protesters, who are opposed to expected cuts to disability services and tax credits, then marched to Westminster Bridge, where they completely blocked traffic.
Police persuaded the protesters to move to Parliament Square, where they again kept traffic stationary with a huge banner bearing their slogan “£ballstothebudget”.
#Balls2TheBudget – balls being thrown into Downing Street as @Dis_PPL_Protest block Whitehall for #budget2015 pic.twitter.com/rGfmbTUh0K
— Mika Minio-Paluello (@mikaminio) July 8, 2015
David Peel, 55, from protest group Class War, said Mr Osborne’s Budget was “probably one of the worst budgets in living memory for poor people, for working class people and especially for the disabled”.
He added: “This is about raising the profile of the opposition to the austerity and the opposition to the cuts which are hurting disabled people most.
“We will keep doing this until we win”.
Protestors from @Dis_PPL_Protest are now blocking the road outside Downing Street chanting 'balls to the budget' pic.twitter.com/Q3MkwGvkpm
— Michael Segalov (@MikeSegalov) July 8, 2015
@paulapeters2 & @Dis_PPL_Protest at Downing Street protest. pic.twitter.com/TnD7RiNy1A
— Alan Wylie (@wylie_alan) July 8, 2015