Police are bracing themselves for a series of major protests in Manchester this weekend to coincide with the Conservative Party conference.
Greater Manchester Police said it was expecting significant numbers to march through the city on Sunday — estimates put the numbers in the tens of thousands — in at least two planned protests as the conference gets underway. Some 12,000 delegates are expected over the course of the four-day event, which plays a major role in the local economy.
The Manchester Evening News reported that around 1,000 officers, including extra armed officers, will be in place on Sunday as part of a security operation costing some £2 million, one of the biggest in the city's history.
Manchester was the scene of heated anti-austerity demonstrations when the conference was last held in the city in 2015, when hundreds of protesters converged over three days, including many campaigners calling for improved NHS funding.
Conference organisers have reportedly created a second entrance so that delegates will not, as they did in 2015, have to form a long queue outside the secure event perimeter which has "airport-style" security measures. In 2015 some activists and journalists were jeered, spat on and, in one instance, pelted with eggs while making their way into the conference.
Delegates are again being urged to hide their accreditation lanyards when they leave the conference area.
Chief superintendent John O’Hare, who is leading the policing operation for the Conservative Party Conference, said:
Manchester is a great city, with so much to offer and we host lots of large-scale events every year that continue to put our city on the map.
The return of the party conference will bring with it tens of thousands of people who will benefit our city’s economy by supporting local businesses and we welcome this opportunity to once again showcase what Manchester has to offer.
GMP has a huge amount of experience in planning and delivering security operations required to successfully manage conferences such as this.
We do expect a number of protesters to come in to the city centre throughout the conference period with two particularly large protests taking place on Sunday 1st October.
These protests are expected to involve thousands of people and we have been working closely with organisers, Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure that they can take place safely and cause the minimum of disruption.
Our policing style throughout the conference period will strive to achieve the right balance between facilitating protest and enabling people to go about their daily business without fear or intimidation. Everyone has the right to peacefully protest but anyone behaving in a manner that goes beyond the spirit of this will be dealt with appropriately.
Trade unionists and anti-austerity campaigners will join the People's Assembly March at around 3pm on Sunday.
Separately, a Stop Brexit march, with the stated aim of averting "the disaster of Brexit before it’s too late," will take place earlier on Sunday at around 1pm.
Among the Remainers on the March will be Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, who served as a cabinet minister alongside the Conservatives in the coalition government formed in 2010.
"I believe it would be a healthy exercise in democracy to participate in a peaceful, dignified protest on the big issue of the day by marching. And the issues don’t come any bigger than Brexit – which is why I will be addressing marchers protesting at the Conservative conference in Manchester this weekend," Cable said.
"If enough people protest against this extreme Conservative Brexit, we can still secure a referendum on the final deal, as Liberal Democrats have been fighting for. Only then can we hold the Government to account, giving the people the option to reject a potentially disastrous deal."