SCORES of campaigners joined a rally in York against the Government public-sector cuts.

The march saw councillors, union representatives and MP Hugh Bayley join protesters and speak out about the Government’s announcement of massive cuts, which event organisers said would mean cutting a total of £84 billion from the public sector.

About 150 supporters gathered to march through the streets of York, chanting and waving placards on a route which took them through the heart of the city.

Owen Clayton, from York Stop The Cuts, one of the organisers of Saturday’s march, said he was pleased with the turnout, which began gathering on Parliament Street from 1pm.

He said: “We were really pleased with how it went, and people seemed really supportive.

“We haven’t seen cuts like this for a generation, and I think the event today was a way to show the people of York that they are not alone in disagreeing with the cuts.”

Hugh Bayley, MP for York Central, told the crowd the cuts were too deep and too fast, and he had hopes for the campaign.

He said: “People have asked me to do what I can to slow the pace of what the Government is doing.

“If we can campaign intelligently we can protect people, some frontline services in the NHS and schools and funding in local authorities.”

Mr Bayley also compared the proposed cuts to the Tory Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and said he was surprised at the Liberal Democrats’ willingness to go along with the proposals.

Speaking to the crowd, Father Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, said the cuts “must be protested and resisted with dignity and without disgrace”.

Mr Clayton said: “There was a lot of public support and we are really seeing this as the beginning of something to let the people of York know there are people in the city that don’t accept the cuts.

“A lot of people who do not have any political affiliations were talking to us and I think it helped them realise how the cuts would affect them and their loved ones.”