Hannah Spencer MP given police escort after fights get away at anti-far proper occasion
The Green Party’s newest MP was led away from an anti-racism demo after she was reportedly approached by a man with an anti-trans sandwich board and fights broke out
MP Hannah Spencer being escorted into a police car(Image: Gary Roberts Photography)
Parliament’s newest MP had to be given a police escort in the middle of a major UK city amid clashes at an anti far-right event.
MP Hannah Spencer was whisked out of Manchester‘s Piccadilly Gardens by a waiting police car after several fights broke out following her appearance at Greater Manchester Together Alliance rally on Sunday afternoon.
The Green Party’s MP for Gorton and Denton was pictured heading into a police car after she joined anti-racism campaigners in the heart of the city. The group had been launching the local branch of the UK-wide group but the gathering descended into chaos when “a few angry men” not with the group appeared to approach the MP.
Ms Spencer was elected as the Green Party’s newest MP after her decisive victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election on February 27.
The Greater Manchester Together Alliance gathered ahead of a ‘March to stop the far right’ in London on March 28. Footage from the scene showed the MP was approached by a YouTuber, wearing a ‘Trans women are men’ sandwich board, after her speech on Sunday.
The man repeatedly asked Ms Spencer “Are trans women women?” and “Can a woman have a penis?”. The scene descended into chaos when two men reportedly started arguing and throwing punches just a few feet away, according to Manchester Evening News.
A police officer stepped in but moments later one of those men became involved in a separate altercation with a woman, as several others stepped in. More punches were reportedly thrown in another brawl between several people in Hi-Viz vests and others.
Cops attempted to split up the two groups while other officers escorted Ms Spencer to a waiting car outside Burger King, before she was driven away.
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.”
A Green Party spokesperson said: “Hannah was talking today in Manchester about community cohesion and unity. A few angry men, attempting to spread anti-trans bigotry, chose this moment to try to silence and harass Hannah. There is a bitter irony that today, on International Women’s Day, these few men claiming to ‘protect women’ behaved like this towards parliament’s newest female MP, chasing her to a police car.
“Worse still, some of the abuse faced by Hannah included the same misinformation and outright lies shared by her political opponents online. Hannah won’t be silenced and will continue to speak up for the communities that she has been elected to represent.”
