Hannah Spencer, Green Party MP for Gorton and Denton, addressed the crowd at an anti-far right gathering
MP Hannah Spencer was given a police escort from Piccadilly Gardens after clashes at an anti-far right event. The Green Party’s new Gorton and Denton MP was taken to a waiting police car after several scuffles broke out following her appearance at the Greater Manchester Together Alliance demo on Sunday afternoon.
Anti-racism campaigners gathered in Piccadilly Gardens for the launch of the local branch of the nationwide group, which is organising a ‘March to stop the far right’ in London on March 28. Footage from the incident shows that as Ms Spencer walked away following her speech she was questioned by a YouTuber wearing a ‘Trans women are men’ sandwich board, who repeatedly asked ‘Are trans women women?’ and ‘Can a woman have a penis?’.
A few feet away, two men then began arguing as punches were thrown before a police officer intervened. Moments later one of the same men then became involved in a separate altercation with a woman, as several others stepped in.
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More punches were then thrown as another fracas broke out between a number of people in hi-viz vests and others as police tried to separate the two sides. Ms Spencer was then escorted to a waiting police car outside Burger King and driven away from the scene.
Earlier, Ms Spencer had told the Together Alliance: “It’s about a movement of people coming together, finding common ground, getting together, working together, mobilizing and defeating politics of hatred and division.
“And last week we did exactly that. We showed Greater Manchester at its finest and we kicked out people who are here to stir hatred.”
Ms Spencer was elected as the Green Party’s first MP in the north of England after her decisive victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election on February 27. Greater Manchester Police and the Green Party have been approached for comment.