A LARGE protest was held outside Belfast’s City Hall on Saturday to campaign against the effects of the cost of living crisis, and government inaction on the issue.
The Cost of Living Coalition Belfast, a grouping made up of community workers, trade unionists and political activists, took to City Hall to protest at rising costs, as well as the current DUP boycott of Stormont and the latest Tory budget.
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Speaking to the crowd Belfast City Councillor Matt Collins said: “If you are lucky enough to have oil in your home, a worker put it there. If you have food in your home, a worker put it there. If you have post delivered to your home, a post worker delivered it to you, and those workers all deserve fair pay and dignity."
The People Before Profit man added: "A cost of living crisis? It’s a cost of profiteering crisis. It’s a cost of greed crisis.
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"Over the next year it’s projected that the energy companies who are hiking your prices are going to make over £170bn in profit. It’s an utter disgrace.
"We’re here today to stand in solidarity with all the trade unionists across the water and the thousands of people who marched in solidarity last weekend with the CWU workers, with Housing Executive workers, healthcare workers to say that enough is enough.
"Liz Truss’ budget is a disgrace. It’s more tax cuts for the rich and poverty for the most vulnerable. The DUP in particular in terms of our local politics are a disgrace. Instead of delivering for people and getting their act together and spending the hundreds of millions of pounds that are unspent in Stormont’s coffers, they want to further polarise politics around the protocol.
"The working class people have more in common than what divides them from the Shankill to the Falls, to Tiger’s Bay to Ardoyne, the Andersonstown Road to the Newtownards Road, people’s interests are in common, and we’re not going to let people divide us.”
Protestors responded with chants of "Price are rising, so are we!"
Big crowds at the @colcbelfast #CostOfLiving rally in Belfast today. Message was loud and clear, it was never the migrant or refugee that was our enemy it was those who were in control. If they want a #classwar, they got it. #EnoughIsEnough [1/2] pic.twitter.com/LUXjcmwIfR
— Claire Mullaly (@ClaireMullaly) October 1, 2022
