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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told tens of thousands of protesters today it was time for “a fundamental shift of power” in Britain.

Public sector workers, pensioners, students, families with children in pushchairs and people with disabilities were among more than 25,000 protesters who marched through central London calling for an end to Tory spending cuts and “poverty” pay.

Waving placards and blowing whistles, they packed the streets and brought parts of the capital to a standstill at the TUC’s A New Deal for Working People demonstration.

Addressing the rain soaked crowds in London’s Hyde Park, Mr Corbyn said: “Our whole movement exists to challenge the powerful and stand up for the powerless.

"That’s why in government, we will give workers and employees more power at work, by strengthening their rights and freedoms to organise together to improve their lives.”

(Image: AFP) (Image: AFP) (Image: PA)

To huge cheers, he promised a future Labour government would launch a massive house building programme and bring the railways, Royal Mail and water firms back into public ownership.

He also said workers would get a greater say in the running of their firms and promised to stand up for exploited workers against fatcat bosses and to clamp down on tax dodging corporations.

More than 120 coaches were hired by TUC organisers to bring protesters to the capital while unions block booked tickets on trains.

Victoria Embankment, where the mass rally began at midday, was turned into a sea of giant balloons and banners with union messages demanding: “No more cuts, no more austerity” and “£10 minimum wage now”.

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(Image: London News Pictures Ltd) (Image: PA) (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

Trade unionists chanting “Tories out” called for a new £10 an hour minimum wage, a ban on zero hours contracts and better funding for public services.

They included workers involved in current disputes at restaurant chains TGI Fridays and McDonalds.

The TUC says real wages are worth £24 a week less than before the 2008 credit crunch while nearly four million workers are stuck on zero hours contracts, agency work and low paid self employment.

Public servants have had to put up with low or non existent pay rises for eight years.

And years of Tory cuts have led to poverty, homelessness and despair for many, say unions.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, addressing the rally, said it was time for an end to cuts, and the “greed and hate” that defined Theresa May’s government.

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

He said: “Most public service workers - the cooks, the cleaners, the carers, many of them women - earn less in a year than some people in this country make in a day.

“It’s ordinary people who are suffering. The survivors of the Grenfell tragedy are still homeless a year on.

“The Windrush generation have been denied the care they need and told to go home by a callous government.

"Ministers said they wanted a hostile environment - so let’s create one for them, the Prime Minister and the politics of austerity.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady - whose organisation celebrates its 150th anniversary this year - said the “massive turnout” sent out a strong message to the Government.

She said: “UK workers are suffering the worst pay squeeze for two centuries. This means families are struggling to get by. Millions of kids are growing up in poverty despite having parents in work.

“The success of this country depends on workers’ labour. The people who build cars, mend our roads, drive the trains, teach our children and tend the sick.”

(Image: PA) (Image: AFP) (Image: PA)

Dave Ward of the Communication Workers Union added: “This is the start of a serious challenge for a new deal for workers.”

Mother of two and shopworkers union shop steward Vanessa Kirk, 53, of Basingstoke, Hants, earns £8.75 an hour as Co-op convenience store worker.

She wants the Government to bring in a £10 an hour minimum wage.

She said: “There are no set shift patterns and it’s hard to get to concurrent days off.

"You get more and more put on you for no extra pay. I used to be happy but the pressure they put on you the less you enjoy it.”

(Image: AFP) (Image: AFP)

Unison branch secretary Penny Smith, 55, of Wellingborough, Northants, works as a £24,500 a year registrar dealing with births, deaths and marriages.

She was on the march to highlight mismanagement and poor leadership at crisis hit Northampton council council where she has worked for 15 years.

She believes she has lost £6,000 in wages since the 2008 financial crisis because of central government enforced pay restrain.

She said: “Staff morale is at rock bottom. We have been told this year there is going to be no pay rise. Our job is vastly underpaid for the work we do.”

Unison shop steward Gaye Partridge, 55, works as an engineer at Bombardier’s Belfast factory making aeroplanes.

Although she says she is adequately paid she’s worried about falling living standards across the country.

She said: “I am here for solidarity. We want to maintain highly skilled and well paid jobs. We don’t want to see a race to the bottom.”