Anti-poverty campaigners gathered in Dundee on Friday calling for "power to the people" and an end to the cost-of-living crisis.
Trade union representatives, community activists and an MSP were among the crowd that gathered outside the council chambers in City Square less than two weeks after the city council became the first in Scotland to declare a "cost-of-living emergency".
Speakers at the event included Green MSP Maggie Chapman, Unite reps Stuart Fairweather and Sarah Browne and anti-austerity campaigner Michael Taylor. The gathering coincided with the end of the University of Dundee's graduation ceremonies, giving them a captive audience coming out of the Caird Hall.
Speaking to Dundee Live, North East regional MSP Ms Chapman said: "People are really, really struggling - with fuel prices rocketing and food prices rising, they are concerned about being able to pay their rent and their bills. The prospect of a cold winter is terrifying.
"Some things have to be addressed at Westminster and if we don't have the radical change and support that we need we're going to see unnecessary and preventable deaths. I don't want to just stand by and let that happen."
Ms Chapman added that MSPs were working hard to support Scots with actions north of the border such as the boost to the Scottish Child Payment, which aims to offset the UK Government's benefit cap.
She said: "We are doing what we can, and we need to focus clearly on making sure that people are getting the benefits they are entitled to. We need to make sure we're putting whatever additional money we can into supporting our most vulnerable."
Unite Dundee City Council chair Stuart Fairweather told the crowd: "The people of Dundee say we need action now. Action against the profits, action for the wages - wage rises, cuts to profits.
"People in food banks...are concerned about what's happening now, but they're even more concerned about what's going to happen in autumn and winter. They won't have warm homes, they won't have food on the table.
"Boris Johnson and his cronies, after last night's election results, need to be told that enough is enough, and that we need to take action."
Dundee City Council agreed on June 13 to declare a cost-of-living crisis in the city, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
It quoted administration leader John Alexander as telling a meeting of the council: “We are all very concerned across the chamber.
“It is an accumulative effect from the various elements such as food, energy, pensions, a Universal Credit cut and Brexit.
“The declaration is a sticking plaster on an acute crisis; we all have to play our part.”
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