Across the UK, including in London, Edinburgh, Swansea and Liverpool, protesters rallied in marches coordinated by the Enough is Enough campaign on Saturday.

In a manifesto on their website, the protesters are calling for support to deal with the price hike in the form of real wage increases, cuts in energy bills and taxes for the wealthy.

About 10,000 people attended the rally in London, according to a campaign tweet.

The climate group Extinction Rebellion (XR) joined, saying they wanted their march to protest both climate change and the cost of living crisis.

The groups were particularly critical of the mini-budget recently adopted by Prime Minister Liz Truss' new conservative government, which cut taxes and decided to abolish the top tax rate for top earners.

They see this measure as a catalyst for further increasing inequality.

The activists said they had blocked Westminster Bridge.

Strike causes train cancellations

The protests coincided with the start of a massive strike action.

Four unions largely paralyzed train services.

Almost 90 percent of the train connections were canceled on Saturday, and in many regions there were no trains at all.

For months there have been repeated strikes in various sectors due to high inflation and the massive loss of purchasing power among citizens.

The rail strike is believed to have disrupted a number of events, including the top-flight English football league game between London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham.

The London Marathon also takes place on Sunday, for which tens of thousands of people usually travel to the capital.

The ruling Conservative Tories are holding their party conference in Birmingham.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch apologized to passengers for the expected disruption but justified the strike.

"The government provoked this conflict," he told the BBC.

"Jobs have been eliminated, pensions cut and wages lowered in relation to inflation".

RMT walkouts are also planned for October 8.

40,000 union members are involved.

In Great Britain, port workers, postal workers and garbage men and women had also been on strike since June in view of the massive loss of purchasing power.

The government wants to boost economic growth and curb high inflation with tax cuts up to and including freezing energy prices.

However, the planned measures could drive up national debt.

The details of the financing remained unclear until the very end.

Controversy in the Tories

The Conservative Tories begin their party conference in Birmingham on Sunday.

Hundreds of delegates from all over Great Britain, as well as representatives from business and society, will discuss the future course of the ruling party until Wednesday.

Numerous conference-style events will also be used to train members in areas such as recruitment and social media.

Speeches by top politicians are scheduled every day.

Prime Minister Truss will only speak at the end on Wednesday afternoon.

Boris Johnson's successor is already under considerable pressure after just a few weeks in office.

Reason are the announced and not counter-financed tax cuts.

Because Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng took on new debt worth tens of billions of pounds, the pound collapsed and interest rates on long-dated British government bonds rose significantly.

The central bank had to intervene.

Nevertheless, Truss and Kwarteng are sticking to their course, which is also highly controversial within the party.