UCU members on a march. Pic: Pete (Flickr).

A group of Goldsmiths students and lecturers will travel to the Conservative Party conference on Sunday to protest against the government’s cuts to public services and its trade union policies.

Protesters from Goldsmiths’ Student Union and the University and College Union will meet others from across the UK in Manchester at midday on October 4.

Adam Stirling, a Goldsmiths student who will be attending the rally, said: “If the Tories continue down this path, they are going to strip the country to the bone.”

Emma Moore, also a student at Goldsmiths believes it is “vital” that more young people get involved in politics, “to show that this generation does have an active political voice.”

Protesters will march though Manchester on Sunday, circling Manchester Central Convention Centre, where the Conservative Party conference is taking place.

Bahar Mustafa, Welfare and Diversity Officer at the Goldsmiths’ Student Union, said: “We hope to show students that collective direct action is an effective alternative to parliamentary politics.

“Many students and workers feel dispossessed and let down by the government and with ever increasing attacks on our welfare and education, it’s now more important than ever to express our organised dissidence.”

The Trade Union Congress, who organised the demonstration, wrote in a statement: “After five years of austerity, falling living standards, pay freezes and huge cuts to public services, a new parliament won’t offer a fresh start to working people and their families.

“We were told that the austerity measures were a necessary short, sharp dose of medicine, but the prescription remains the same.”

The demonstration will begin at 12pm on Sunday on Oxford Road, Manchester. Transport and contact information is available on the Trade Union Congress website.