Brendan Barber at Saturday's March for the Alternative

Speaking later today (Saturday) at the rally for the March for the Alternative, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber is expected to say:

'No part of our public realm is to be protected.

'And don't believe it when ministers say that the NHS is safe in their hands. With over 50,000 job cuts already in the pipeline - nurses, doctors, physios, midwives - in the name of so-called efficiency savings of £20 billion, the NHS as we know it, is already in intensive care.

'And with David Cameron talking about selling it off to 'any willing provider' out to make a profit, the NHS is facing the gravest threat in its history.

'Today let us say to him: we will not let you destroy what has taken generations to build.

'The NHS stands for something different - care, compassion, social solidarity - and let us pledge today to do everything in our power to fight to defend it. Our NHS is not for sale.

'And while the government is planning this destruction on such a massive scale, down the road in the City they're paying themselves £7 billion in bonuses - straight back to business as usual. And ministers have the nerve to tell us we are all in this together.

'With that cynical lie they are taking us for fools - but the British people will not be fooled.

'Let's be brutally clear about these brutal cuts. They're going to cost jobs on a huge scale - adding to the misery of the 2.5 million people already on the dole.

'They're going to hammer crucial services that bind our communities together. And they're going to hit the poorest and the most vulnerable hardest. Anyone who tells you different is a bare-faced liar.

'The government claims there is no alternative. But there is. Let's keep people in work and get our economy growing. Let's get tax revenues flowing and tackle the tax cheats. And let's have a Robin Hood Tax on the banks, so they pay us back for the mess they caused.'

The March for the Alternative will be the TUC's biggest event for decades, and will involve thousands of trade union members, community organisations and people concerned at the impact of the government's spending cuts.

The march will begin to form up on the Victoria Embankment from 11am and around noon the march will set off for the rally just under three miles away in Hyde Park.

At intervals amongst the marchers will be a number of bands including Grand Union - a diverse world/jazz orchestra, made up of musicians from virtually every part of the world - and the Bollywood Brass Band - a brass band playing Bollywood and traditional Indian music.

From Victoria Embankment the march will turn into Bridge Street, into Parliament Square, up Whitehall, into Cockspur Street, and along the side of Trafalgar Square, into Piccadilly, around Hyde Park Corner and into the Park via the Apsley Gate.

Hyde Park is the venue for a rally featuring an array of speakers, films on giant screens highlighting the impact of the cuts and three short music breaks. The rally is expected to start around 1.30pm and will finish at 4.30pm. Other speakers in Hyde Park include Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis, Labour leader Ed Miliband, actor Samuel West, Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka, NUT General Secretary Christine Blower, NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates, GMB General Secretary Paul Kenny, Chitra Nagarajan from Southall Black Sisters, CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes and Dot Gibson from the National Pensioners Convention.