{"id":537845,"date":"2026-04-18T13:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T13:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/537845\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T13:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T13:59:14","slug":"britain-first-march-live-hundreds-of-far-right-supporters-and-counter-protesters-in-manchester-city-centre-standoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/537845\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain First march \u2013 live: Hundreds of far-right supporters and counter protesters in Manchester city centre standoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police clash with counter protesters as far-right rally takes to streets of ManchesterYour support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

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Britain First supporters and counter protesters have been separated by barriers in Manchester as the far-right party holds a march through the city.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of supporters of the anti-immigration party are part of the march on Saturday<\/a>, along with a smaller number of counter protesters. <\/p>\n

GMP said two people have been arrested, adding they were separate incidents involving counter protesters. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne was for failing to provide details after requesting they removed their face covering. Another was for police assault\u201d. the force said. <\/p>\n

Organisers of the march, advertised by them as a St George\u2019s Day parade, have agreed a route with police, starting at 1.15pm and travelling across central Manchester.<\/p>\n

According to a Manchester Evening News reporter, demonstrators from both sides were separated by barriers at St Peter\u2019s Square.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham<\/a>, his deputy Kate Green and city council leader Bev Craig said: “There is no place in Greater Manchester for anyone coming here to sow division and incite fear, hatred, or violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>‘Breakaway group’ make way down side of Manchester Town Hall, police say<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 14:42<\/p>\n

<\/a>Counter protesters attempted to break lines, police say<\/p>\n

In a further update, GMP said: Earlier, counter-protesters had attempted to break police lines and attempted to throw punches.<\/p>\n

\u201cPAVA spray was deployed as a tactic instead of using further additional force. There are no reports of any members of the public being injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 14:35<\/p>\n

<\/a>Two arrests made, GMP says<\/p>\n

The force said: \u201cSo far two arrests have been made. Both were separate incidents involving counter-protesters. One was for failing to provide details after requesting they removed their face covering. Another was for police assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 14:31<\/p>\n

<\/a>Pictures show Britain First supporters on march\"AA person carries a large cross during a Britain First march in Manchester on April, 18, 2026. (AFP\/Getty)\"TheThe Britain First march in Manchester (AFP\/Getty)\"PeoplePeople wave St George’s cross flags during a Britain First march in Manchester (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 14:28<\/p>\n

<\/a>Scuffle between police and counter-protesters in Piccadilly Gardens<\/p>\n

A video posted by Manchester Stand up to Racism appears to show scuffles between police and counter demonstrators in Piccadilly Gardens.<\/p>\n

According to a Manchester Evening News reporter on the ground, Britain First supporters and most counter protesters were being separated by barriers at St Peter\u2019s Square.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 14:16<\/p>\n

<\/a>March has made it to St Peter’s Square<\/p>\n

\u201cStatic demos\u201d are taking place in St Peter\u2019s Square, GMP has said.<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth18 April 2026 13:58<\/p>\n

<\/a>‘Vast majority of both sides causing no issues’, Greater Manchester Police says<\/p>\n

Greater Manchester Police has said that \u201cthe vast majority of both sides are causing no issues\u201d as Britain First protesters continue to move towards St. Peter\u2019s Square as planned.<\/p>\n

A reporter on the ground for Manchester Evening News <\/a>has estimated that the turn out is \u201cin the hundreds not thousands\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"\"(Greater Manchester Police )<\/p>\n

Holly Bancroft18 April 2026 13:49<\/p>\n

<\/a>Small group of counter protesters pictured <\/p>\n

A group of counter protesters have been moved away from tram tracks to minimise travel disruption in Manchester. Greater Manchester Police have shared an aerial photo of the small group surrounded by police officers. <\/p>\n

Leader of Manchester city council Cllr Bev Craig called for people to \u201cstand united in the face of division\u201d ahead of the march and urged Mancunians who want to celebrate St George\u2019s Day to get involved in an annual parade on 26 April. <\/p>\n

\"\"(Greater Manchester Police )<\/p>\n

Holly Bancroft18 April 2026 13:34<\/p>\n

<\/a>Britain First march sets off from Store Street<\/p>\n

Greater Manchester police have shared an aerial photo of the Britain First march as it leaves from its Store Street starting point. <\/p>\n

The marchers are heading towards St Peter\u2019s Square where speeches will take place. <\/p>\n

Police have said that they have \u201csignificant resources in place to keep people safe and reduce the wide impact in the city\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"\"(Greater Manchester Police )<\/p>\n

Holly Bancroft18 April 2026 13:29<\/p>\n

<\/a>Some tram services suspended in Manchester due to protest<\/p>\n

Trams across the city of Manchester have been suspended due to Britain First\u2019s protest. <\/p>\n

In an update on social media, authorities at Manchester\u2019s tram network said that the Piccadilly Gardens, Market Street and St Peter\u2019s Square stops have been closed. <\/p>\n

Holly Bancroft18 April 2026 13:20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police clash with counter protesters as far-right rally takes to streets of ManchesterYour support helps us to tell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[150081,59,57,58,11237,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-537845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-demonstration","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-horizontal","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}