London, May 25 (RHC)-- A protest rally in the UK city of Manchester has condemned the government's continuing austerity policy. Some 2,000 people gathered in Manchester to protest the government's "callous cuts" over the past five years.

The protest, organized on social media, took place in Piccadilly Gardens in the city center. Young people also took part in the protest, holding up a sign that said: 'No Cuts.'

The 10 Greater Manchester authorities faced cuts of more than a quarter of a billion pounds (US$387 billion) in 2015. This was on top of the £1.2 billion ($1.85 billion) of cuts since the last government's austerity measures were introduced in 2010, RT reported.

Now economic commentator Shabbir Razvi said: "The ruling British Tories are "making the poor pay for the crimes committed by the rich and the wealthy." She said: "The conservative party is the party of the rich and the wealthy and now that they have won an election outright, they have an ideological agenda "they feel that they have a mandate to implement the policies which have been somehow modified to a degree in the previous five years."

Razvi told Press TV that "at the end of the day the conservative government through the austerity measures is creating more profit for the wealthy." The Manchester protest comes days before the Tories set out their legislative plan in the Queen's speech.

Meanwhile, a separate protest took place in St. Ann's Square on Saturday, with homeless people setting up camp after fighting for support from the council for the past few weeks.