RICH PICKINGS

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say. Hot on the heels of the anti-cuts march on the 26th, London is to host the pro-cuts “Rally Against Debt” on May 14th.

The “polite demonstration” is being engineered by the likes of the Tory-funded Taxpayers Alliance, the Countryside Alliance, ex-UKIP advisers and supported by far-right elements. In other words, expect a combination of Nazi nutters and the kind of rich, right-wing retrogrades you can imagine spending their time shooting pheasants and breaking into Rule Britannia when they’ve had one too many G&Ts.

To call such a demonstration a rally “against debt” is in itself manipulative: supportive of the ConDems blatantly ideological motivations for destroying the welfare state, the march would more accurately be described as a “Rally for public sector decimation and corporate greed”. The Taxpayers Alliance has links to the super-republican Tea Party movement in the US. Along with various right-wing think-tanks, they’ve been itching to see a UK version blossom - and will be hoping that the 14th becomes its birthday.

Of course there will be a counter-demo - watch this space.

* For comedy value see http://rallyagainstdebt.org and their Facebook page.