Solidarity with workers in Europe fighting austerity

As we head out of a relatively quiet summer on the struggles of workers in the main we now enter a hot autumn of struggle this has started in Ernest in Spain tonight as a protest movement has clashed with riot police in Madrid. This blog express’s its solidarity with these protesters and opposes police brutality. Spanish police have fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protesters attending a rally against austerity. The clashes broke out as protesters tried to tear down barriers blocking access to the parliament in Madrid. Spanish media reported that at least 20 people had been arrested and more than a dozen injured. The "Occupy Congress" protest comes as the government prepares to unveil further austerity measures on Thursday in a bid to shrink its budget deficit. Spain is in its second recession in three years and unemployment is near 25%, with youth unemployment far higher. The government will unveil the draft budget for 2013 on Thursday and is expected to present new cost-saving reforms to reassure lenders about the state of the country's public finances. Emergency funds The demonstrators - known as Indignants - say "Occupy Congress" is a protest against the kidnapping of democracy. Thousands of people had massed in Plaza de Neptuno square in central Madrid for the march on parliament. But their route towards the parliament building's main entrance was blocked off by metal railings, police vans and hundreds of Spanish riot police. One of the main protest groups, Coordinadora #25S, said the Indignants only planned to march around parliament Mark Smith, who lives near the site of the protest, said: "I saw riot police with their batons charging at protesters trying to split up the crowd." Tuesday's demonstration was organised via social media sites and many young people turned out, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid - but the protest's public profile meant the police were ready for them. Spain’s at a position now where a quarter of the population are unemployed and many are now struggling to feed themselves. I read earlier this week that 8000 people a day in Greece go to food banks to get fed. This is modern day Europe everyone. Austerity is biting hard but workers are fighting back. In Greece tomorrow there is another nationwide 24 hour general strike things are starting to hot up. Its essential we show solidarity with our European brothers and sisters from South Africa, Spain to Greece the best thing we can do is demand our TUC name the day for a 24 hour general strike in Britain too. Fight fire with fire. With extracts from the BBC.