Hannah Spencer, Gorton and Denton’s newly-elected MP, was ushered into a police car amid the unfolding chaos
The newly elected MP was ushered into a police car amid the unfolding chaos(Image: Gary Roberts Photography)
The Green Party has hit out after a group of ‘angry men’ targeted Gorton and Denton MP Hannah Spencer in Piccadilly Gardens, forcing her to be ushered into a police car on Sunday (March 8).
The 34-year-old was given a police escort away from Piccadilly Gardens after clashes at a anti-far right event. The MP was taken to a waiting police car after several scuffles broke out following her appearance at the Greater Manchester Together Alliance demo.
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.
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But footage posted widely online from a number of different accounts showed that as Ms Spencer walked away following her speech she was questioned and followed before chaotic scenes broke out.
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?’. Two men then began arguing as punches were thrown before a police officer intervened. One of the same men then became involved in a separate altercation with a woman, as several others stepped in.
More punches were then thrown as another fracas broke out between a number of people and others as police tried to separate the two sides. Ms Spencer was seen being ushered over to a police car waiting outside Burger King at the top of Market Street.
The newly-elected MP was ushered into a police car amid the unfolding chaos (Image: Gary Roberts Photography)
A spokesperson for the party has claimed that Ms Spencer was harassed by a ‘few angry men’ who were ‘attempting to spread anti-trans bigotry’. The Green Party also commented on the ‘irony’ that men had ‘behaved this way to parliament’s newest female MP’ on International Women’s day, and that it had been fuelled by misinformation shared by ‘political opponents online’.
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.”
Earlier in the afternoon, 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.
MP Hannah Spencer at an anti-far right event(Image: Gary Roberts Photography)
“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.