
Protesters marked International Workers' Day with a rally in London's Trafalgar Square today, with some marchers holding up pictures of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

It included workers involved in a long-running pay dispute at cinema chain Picturehouse, cleaners at the Ministry of Justice campaigning for the London living wage, and cleaners from King's College pressing for work to be brought in-house.

Millions of people died in Stalin's Russia, many of them transported to labour camps to work in extreme temperatures or executed in mass killings of political prisoners, while others died in disastrous famines.

Demonstrators marched through central London today holding flares and banners to mark International Workers' Day

Protesters holding flares and flags including Communist symbols walk along the strand during the May Day demonstration

Demonstrators hold up flags bearing the hammer and sickle as they mark International Workers' Day in central London

Demonstrators pictured on the march in central London today for a workers' day dating back to the early union movement

Some marchers were seen holding up pictures of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, under whose regime millions died in Russia

The action, marking International Workers' Day, which dates back to the early days of the trade union movement, coincided with a strike by some staff at McDonald's over pay and union recognition.

Hundreds of employees assembled in London's Trafalgar Square before taking part in a number of protests in the capital.

Kelly Rogers, a sacked union rep from the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, said: 'The links we are building between precarious workers - migrant workers, sex workers, workers on zero hours facing victimisation for union activity - could be the next stage of a desperately needed new movement against exploitation.'

One banner, pictured by Twitter users, featured a large portrait of Stalin, along with a quote from his work speaking of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' and the transition from capitalism to communism.

Although there are many traditional May Day rites that have existed for hundreds of years, May Day was not linked to International Workers’ Day until the 20th century and is not known officially as Labour Day in the UK.

During the Cold War, May Day was marked with large military parades in the Red Square of the Soviet Union.

A protester wearing a mask holds up a flare as a police officer walks alongside the demonstrators in central London today

One man held up a sign referencing Amber Rudd's departure this week, while another held a flag with a hammer and sickle

Left-wing groups hold up signs calling for 'jobs, justice and equality' and demanding 'solidarity with the Windrush generation'

These protesters were pictured holding a picture of Anna Campbell, who died after joining a Kurdish fighting unit in Syria

A woman holds a flare during the demonstration to mark International Workers' Day in central London today

Protesters attend the rally in Trafalgar Square, Westminster, today which marks International Workers' Day

Demonstrators hold up a sign saying 'Long live May Day' and showing a picture of the world breaking free from its chains