Anti-Tory protests expected in Manchester
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Version 0 of 1. As many as 100,000 anti-Tory protesters could descend on Manchester this weekend when the Conservative party conference returns to the city, according to one pressure group attending. Various anti-Tory protests and events are scheduled to take place, including a comedy night, Laugh Them Out of Town, featuring Frankie Boyle, and a rally at which the Labour and Green leaders Jeremy Corbyn and Natalie Bennett are among the speakers. The main event however, is a huge anti-austerity national demonstration organised by the TUC and the People’s Assembly, which is expecting more than 100,000 marchers, double the number of people that attended last time the Tories were in town. Other projections have been slightly more modest. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) says “tens of thousands” are expected to join the march on Sunday, which leaves Oxford Road at All Saints Park at around 1.30pm, taking the following route: Oxford Road - Portland Street – Princess Street – Albert Square – Southmill Street – Peter Street – Deansgate – Liverpool Road. Despite the conference being calculated by Marketing Manchester as worth approximately £29 million for the local economy, many Mancunians are far from pleased about it being held in their city – a city with no Tory MPs and not one Tory councillor. “Tories are rarer than unicorns in Manchester”, according to local TV presenter Terry Christian, who has compiled an evening of anti-austerity music theatre as part of the proceedings — including Smiths tribute band, The Ian Duncan Smiths. He also highlights the city’s radical history (the Chartist movement, the Peterloo Massacre etc) to be incongruous with the decision for the Conservatives to hold conference in Manchester. The prospective demonstrations – officially entitled “Take Back Manchester” - certainly suggest that anger with the Conservative’s programme of austerity emanates from a wide range of groups: a student ‘debt-in’ — a play on the traditional student sit-in — will be followed by a “Faith Against Austerity” vigil in Manchester Cathedral; a 7 metre knitted banner (reading “don’t stitch us up”) will be paraded, and a flash-mob is due to take place in Piccadilly Station to “welcome” delegates when they step off the train from London. There is even a competition for the best pig mask. To accommodate these activists, many of whom will come from all over the country, the People’s Assembly has booked out Sugden Sports Hall in the city centre where people can sleep for a couple of quid. It will be, say the organisers, “spectacular”. Greater Manchester Police has received extra funding from the Home Office for the huge security operation. It will involve a heightened police presence across the whole city centre, including the creation of an ‘island site’ which will incorporate the conference venue itself and delegates’ accommodation, in order to ensure “business as usual”. Chief Superintendent John O’Hare, who will oversee GMP’s response, said the force “supports people’s democratic right to protest peacefully” but “will not allow the conference itself to be disrupted”. TfGM warned travellers to expect significant disruption across the city on Sunday afternoon because of the march. All roads on the march will be closed to traffic, with the associated diversions also affecting demand on surrounding roads. Click here to see a map. For the duration of the march, more than 50 bus services will be running to diversions and Metrolink services through St Peter’s Square will be suspended. Deansgate train station will be closed from 3-7pm. |