SINGING socialist Charlotte Church squared up to the Tories this weekend as joined an anti-austerity protest with a placard reading: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.”

The Welsh pop star spoke out against more cuts at a protest in Cardiff called after the Tories won last week’s general election. She said: “This is a government that does not care about its people and is only interested in cosying up to big business.”

Her rallying cry to the hundreds gathered around Cardiff’s Aneurin Bevan statue will boost people’s confidence in the fight against cuts, protest organiser Jamie Insole predicted.

“It was great to see Charlotte and I would prefer to see her give a fighting message than some politician that is going to tell us this is the best that we can get,” he told the Star.

“It transpires she’s a long standing opponent of austerity.

“She has always been quite real and was given a warm welcome at the protest.”

Ms Church, who has previously campaigned for Bring Back the NHS, had written passionate letter to her fans urging them to vote out the Tories ahead of Thursday’s poll. In an interview with Wales Online, the soprano explained that, to her, protesting “is not about complaining — it’s about showing solidarity.

“I don’t believe in leaving people behind to fend for themselves just because they are ill or disabled.

“I don’t want to live in a world like that.

“The Tories are going to systematically take apart what makes us Britain and what makes it a fair, lovely place to live.”

But her courageous words quickly caught the attention of tabloid bully Katie Hopkins, who told the singer to “wind your neck in” and “own your problems” on Twitter.

Ms Church’s reply delighted thousands as she challenged Ms Hopkins to a charity boxing match adding: “I’d relish the opportunity to lawfully smash [Katie Hopkins’s] face in.”

She is expected to keep lending her support to other anti-austerity protests and strikes, including next Saturday’s Community March Against the Tories in Cardiff.