Jeremy Corbyn with anti-austerity protesters

JEREMY Corbyn joined anti-austerity protesters on a march to Downing Street on the eve of the budget.

The Islington North MP joined trade unions, politicians and cam­paigners as he criticised the government’s economic proposals.

Mr Corbyn said: “We marched to tell this government that we will not sit back and accept business as usual. If the government was serious about delivering change, it would listen to our demands for wealth taxes, wealth controls and public ownership.

“Anything less is a continuation of a grotesquely unequal and unjust society that rewards corporate greed at the expense of us all.”

Chancellor John Healey revealed the government’s annual budget the following day, the first of new prime minister Andy Burnham’s tenure.

Policies announced included a one-off energy support payment during winter for certain households, changes to carers’ allowance and an increase in minimum wage for workers.

But Mr Corbyn said that the announcements were a “missed opportunity” to rewire a system that “impoverishes the many and enriches the few”.

He added: “In the UK, the richest 56 individuals own more wealth than 27 million people combined.

“How much longer are we going to sit back and accept these obscene levels of inequality?

“The chancellor could have introduced wealth taxes. He could have confronted corporate greed. He could have brought water, energy and mail into public ownership. He could have ended NHS privatisation. He could have tackled the injustice of student debt. He could have brought in rent controls.

“Instead, corporations will be breathing a sigh of relief, while millions of people will be left asking: where is the change that was promised?”