Day One: The Jarrow March Sets Off!

Today was a really moving day, it was unlike anything I have been involved in before. Five hundred people came to send us off as we started the demo in Jarrow. Walking through the High Street people lined the road either side and were applauding us, they really saw the point of the march against unemployment.

In the press some Tory MPs had attacked the march saying it had no purpose. However, seeing the response from people today it made me think how wrong the Tories are.

The march has a great atmosphere. It has been a tiring but very rewarding day!

We passed the AEI factory just outside Jarrow in Burtley where workers (some had been working there for decades) had been laid off just like hundreds of thousands across the country. At least 750,000 more public sector workers will be made redundant by this government, and that will knock-on to local areas as well. The factory workers were very supportive, made us feel really welcome and invited us to the village hall for drinks and a football match.

Dave Nellist, Socialist Party councillor in Coventry, spoke at the rally and marched with us for the first day. I couldn't hear the other speakers, but they included Kevin Maguire from the Daily Mirror and Lizi Gray whose great-grandfather was on the original 1936 march.

The march set off led by the RMT (Rail Trade Union) brass band.

After a long march we reached our destination.