Thousands of far right Britain First protesters march through Manchester city centre as police step up bid to keep them apart from counter-demo

Published: 13:53, 18 April 2026 | Updated: 14:15, 18 April 2026 Thousands of far-right Britain First protestors have marched through Manchester city centre as police step up its bid to separate them from a counter-demonstration.  Around 1,000 Britain First supporters gathered on Store Street underneath Manchester Piccadilly station from noon on Saturday, before marching to St Peter's Square at 1.15pm ahead of a rally. A counter-protest - by a coalition of anti-racism groups known as Resist Britain First - was held in Piccadilly Gardens by officers.  Hundreds of officers were on hand for the protest after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were accused of 'losing control' when violence ensued at a previous Britain First 'march for remigration' in February.  Police arrested 11 people after a clash broke out between far-right protesters and counter-demonstrators Stand Up To Racism. Arrests were made in relation to public order, breach of peace, assault on an emergency worker, assault and breach of a dispersal notice.  GMP has since been given extra powers to manage potential trouble-makers during Saturday's demonstration. A Section 34 dispersal order is in place for the city centre, while a Section 60 order gives officers enhanced stop and search powers and allows for the removal of face coverings. Thousands of far-right Britain First protestors (pictured) marched through Manchester city centre on Saturday Around 1,000 Britain First supporters gathered before marching to St Peter's Square ahead of a rally Hundreds of officers were on hand for the protest after Greater Manchester Police were accused of 'losing control' of a previous Britain First protest A statement released by GMP confirmed there would be a 'significantly increased police presence' across the city centre.  It said it expected 'up to around as thousand protestors and a thousand counter-protestors to be present,' but that organisers of the main event had engaged with police and a route had been agreed.  Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson said: 'The public should expect to see a large police presence in the city centre on Saturday as part of our policing operation focused on keeping people safe and minimising the wider impact during the planned protest and counterprotests. 'Disruption should be expected but we are working with partners in the city centre to mitigate this.  'We'll have significant resources in place to facilitate protest and to ensure our local communities, businesses and visitors to Manchester can go about their day safely and with as minimal impact as possible. 'Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely, while intervening when behaviour crossing the line into criminality.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.