Cost of living rally fills hall in Norwich

The Enough is Enough event to discuss how the cost of living crisis needs to be tackled was held at the Epic Studios in Norwich

A new campaign group concerned about the cost of living crisis attracted about 850 people to its fourth UK rally held in Norfolk.

Epic Studios in Norwich was filled for the Enough is Enough free event on Tuesday evening.

Founded by trade unions and community organisations, the group opposes rising bills and low wages.

The Conservative government said it would be setting out further plans for household energy bills on Thursday.

Enough is Enough's East Anglia co-ordinator Charlie Nixon said the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, made a surprise appearance at the Norwich event, while a further 200,000 people watched a livestream of the rally on Facebook.

The group said it was set up to campaign for policies including a rise in the minimum wage to £15, cancelling the energy price hike, enshrining the right to food into law, the building of 100,000 council homes a year and tackling tax evasion.

Charlie Nixon said Enough is Enough was not party political and they did not want it to be "an echo chamber with just the same people banging their drums"

While the group has Labour MPs attached to the project, it said it did not consider itself to be party political, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Launched last month, the organisation said it had some 500,000 supporters nationwide.

"We don't want it to be an echo chamber with just the same people banging their drums," said Mr Nixon.

"We want everyone to get involved and that was the crowd we got last night... this is a long-term project to bring about real change."

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A range of speakers attended the event including Eddie Dempsey of the RMT railways union.

The campaign has previously held rallies in London, Manchester and Liverpool.

The Norwich rally took place on the day South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss was appointed prime minister, following her victory in the Conservative Party leadership election.

Ms Truss has appointed Norwich North MP Chloe Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary and she joins the cabinet, which also includes Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis, who becomes Justice Secretary.

A government spokesperson at the Treasury said: "We know that rising prices are impacting people across the UK, and as the Prime Minister has said, we will set out plans for further support to families with energy costs tomorrow.

"We have already taken action to help households with £37bn worth of support throughout the year, including £1,200 for eight million households, £400 for all households to help with energy bills, and a National Insurance cut worth up to £330 a year for the typical employee."