Several fights and skirmishes broke out as supporters of the far-right group clashed with counter-protesters
18:39, 21 Feb 2026Updated 19:04, 21 Feb 2026
Police detain a man during the protest
There were ugly scenes as Britain First marched through Manchester city centre today. Several skirmishes and fights broke out as supporters of the far-right group clashed with anti-racism campaigners and passers-by.
In one incident on Bloom Street in the Gay Village a young man was repeatedly kicked by several men as he lay in the street. Moments earlier he had exchanged punches and insults with the marchers as they passed Chorlton Street bus station.
The man was later seen being led away in handcuffs by police. Skirmishes also broke out in Piccadilly Gardens when dozens of BF supporters broke away from the main march to confront campaigners from Stand Up to Racism Manchester, who were being held back by a line of police officers.
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SUTR had earlier held their own counter-demo in Piccadilly Gardens, at which former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gave a speech.
GMP had been prepared for trouble ahead of what promised to be a very busy day, with Manchester City also at home tonight and former X Factor star James Arthur playing at Co-op Live.
A 10 hour dispersal order was put in place across the city centre while the protests took place, giving officers extra powers to remove anyone suspected of causing anti-social behaviour. As of 3pm on Saturday Greater Manchester Police said six people had been arrested on suspicion of public order, breach of peace, assault on an emergency worker and breach of dispersal notice.
Britain First supporters march through Manchester
The BF rally was dubbed a ‘march for remigration and mass deportations’. But the hundreds, maybe thousands, of supporters who took part first spent around 90 minutes standing around in a tunnel under Piccadilly Station as the march was delayed from its intended start time of noon.
When it did finally get underway around 1.20pm there were early signs of the unrest that was to come as a handful of anti-racism protesters attempted to block the flag-waving marchers’ progress along Piccadilly by sitting in the street in front of them before being dragged away by police.
Further clashes took place on Portland Street and outside the Palace Theatre, where bemused theatre-goers queuing up for Priscilla Queen of the Desert watched on as the two sides faced off either side of a wall of police. On Whitworth Street a family-of-four held hands as they walked along at the rear of the march waving Union Jacks and St George’s crosses.
Britain First co-leaders Paul Goulding and Ashlea Simon at the head of the march
Upon seeing a rainbow flag hanging from a balcony above, one of the children, a boy of probably primary school age, shouted ‘You can shove pride up your arse’ before joining in with the rest of the family’s chant of ‘You can stick Palestine up your arse’.
But despite the far-right taking over the streets of the city centre for the afternoon, all around them thousands of Mancunians cracked on with their normal Saturday. The shops, pubs, cafes, museums and theatres were as busy as ever – and Deansgate was still gridlocked.
One woman, seemingly dressed up for a night out, could be heard witheringly remarking ‘It’s not immigration that’s the problem, is it?’, as she walked past the head of the march. After crossing Deansgate the protesters were directed towards Castlefield Bowl where a stage and big screen had been set up.
But with the rain now starting to fall heavily, numbers had thinned noticeably by the time the first of a series of speakers took to the stage. Amid chants of ‘send them back’, vows to ‘defend our country from invaders’ and proud boasts of ethno-nationalism from onstage, the rally meandered towards its conclusion.
Britain First leader Paul Goulding addresses a rally at Castlefield Bowl following the party’s ‘march for remigration’ through Manchester
And it ended in farcical scenes when a large proportion of the crowd, appearing to think it was over, headed for the exit following a speech by Salford-based Britain First co-leader Ashlea Simon. Despite Simon’s repeated pleas for them to return, most didn’t.
That left party leader Paul Goulding facing just a few dozen sodden stragglers for his headline spot. He took one look at the now sparse audience and decided to scrap most of his planned 20-minute-long ‘fire and brimstone’ speech in favour of thanking his supporters for coming out and braving the rain.
It was a slapstick end to an ignominious day.