Actor Russell Brand spoke at a rally celebrating the one-year anniversary of the People's Assembly on Saturday, saying the members of the UK parliament no longer represent the people and calling for a "joyful revolution."
"The people of this building [the House of Commons] generally speaking do not represent us, they represent their friends in big business," he told the 50,000 people gathered for the march,
according to Sky News. "It's time for us to take back our power. This will be a peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution and I'm very grateful to be involved in the People's Assembly."
At the conclusion of his speech, the 39-year-old Brand, famous for his role in 2008 film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," stripped off his shirt and replaced it with one from the movement that read "Firefighters rescue people not bankers."
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Last year, Brand made political waves in an October article in the New Statesman when he urged young people not to vote. He called for a "total revolution," although it was not clear what that meant.
Sam Fairbairn, national secretary of the People's Assembly, said they will continue to protest government austerity.
"Make no mistake, these cuts are killing people and destroying cherished public services which have served generations," Fairbairn
told The International Business Times.
"Later this autumn, we will unite with the trade union and labour movement when it holds another monster march against austerity and the ConDems. Soon we will reach a size and influence where neither the BBC nor this austerity Government will be able to ignore us."
X Factor judge Simon Cowell has said previously that Brand should donate his net worth to charity to prove he's serious about bringing about a revolution, and Brand seemed to address some of Cowell's suggestion during his speech.
"I obviously face accusations of being part of the 1% myself but I wasn't designed in a laboratory with Jimmy Carr and Adele, I'm from Grays in Essex. Where I grew up I felt there were low expectations."
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