'There is an alternative to these cuts', says Ed Balls

The shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said the Labour Party has a "clear alternative" to the government's plans for spending cuts, at a march in London.

Mr Balls stressed the need to get the deficit down, "but in a steady way, to half the deficit in four years, not to abolish it entirely".

He was joining people from across the country converging on London for a march, in protest at the coalition government's plans.

Ministers say the cuts are necessary to fix the public finances.