Unions organised a rally of 35,000 protesters against government budget cuts on Sunday in Manchester.

Unions organised a rally of 35,000 protesters against government budget cuts on Sunday in Manchester where the Conservative Party opened its annual conference.

The TUC billed the protest as a rally for "the alternative -- jobs, growth, justice".

"The TUC is organised a protest to show opposition to the coalition government's disastrous policies of pay freezes, cuts and attacks on public services that are producing rising unemployment, cuts in living standards and stagnation," it said.

Police estimated the crowd at the rally at 35,000, including mainstream public sector workers and left-wing activists, carrying placards saying: "Unite and fight".

Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, told the crowd that the whole country would unite in a mass strike called by several trade unions for November 30.

"If you never fight you lose every time," he said. "Now's the time to fight, now's the time to defeat the government."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, added: "The reality is civil disobedience is the oldest form of democracy and we should applaud it."

Police said the march had been peaceful with no arrests, although around 150 Occupy Manchester demonstrators staged an Occupation in front of the town hall at Albert Square.

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