Fascists in Manchester yesterday tried to attack Hannah Spencer, the newly-elected MP for Gorton and Denton as she left a rally organised by Together Alliance. She had to be driven away by police.

Behind the attack was the small but well-organised group of fascist thugs who have been increasingly active in Manchester of late.

They include Chris Messenger (known online as English Ned), his partner Sophie Taylor, and, most recently, anti-trans extremist Steve James.

This same network came unstuck during the Britain First event on 21 February, and their mood darkened further when Hannah Spencer romped home in the Gorton and Denton by-election days later.

Assault

Last week, Searchlight reported on their assault on a Stop the War meeting featuring Zarah Sultana MP.

Yesterday, they were at it again.

Spencer had been speaking at the launch of Greater Manchester’s Together Alliance, the recently launched anti-far-right coalition, in Piccadilly Gardens.

The signs had not been good from the start: the police present were largely ineffective during the rally, with officers seemingly tolerating the provocateurs.

Steve James, an anti-trans extremist with a sandwich board, was allowed to position himself at the front of the crowd and constantly try to disrupt the proceedings.

When Hannah Spencer tried to walk across Piccadilly Gardens after her speech, she was confronted, chased and harassed.

The trouble was kicked off by James and another anti-trans demonstrator but they were soon joined by Messenger and other thugs who joined in.

Messenger screamed abuse, incited further violence and filmed everything. Then he started punching a steward.

Dragged by hair

The situation rapidly deteriorated as other fascists joined in. One was pictured (below) punching Ameen Hadi, Chair of the NW TUC Black Workers Committee, prompting the only police officer present at that point to intervene.

Others attacked people trying to protect Hannah Spencer. One woman dragged a steward by the hair.

Other police officers arrived quite quickly and Spencer was hustled towards a waiting police car and driven away from the scene.

Two attacks

So: two attacks, both on female MPs, both in Manchester, within the space of a week. And these are the same people who loudly proclaim they exist to “protect our women and children.”

We can now put that particular lie to rest.

The Green Party’s response was pointed: “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.”

The party also noted that some of the abuse directed at Spencer drew on misinformation circulated by her political opponents online, a reminder that the street thugs and the keyboard warriors operate as a mutually reinforcing ecosystem.

Criminal records

Many of the so-called “auditors” in this network have criminal records, criminal associations and demonstrable links to some of the most violent elements of the British far right.

Many are friendly with neo-Nazi Ryan Ferguson, also based in the North West, who has attended their rallies and events in Manchester.

Among their more recently recruited activists is ‘Fred CPO’ (real name Fred Willis) formerly a bodyguard to the notorious Charlie Veitch, who was driven out of the city last year.

Raw numbers are not, in themselves, the primary concern. What matters is the pattern: specific activists and organisations are being targeted repeatedly, and in both Liverpool and Manchester, it is women who bear the brunt of fascist frustration.

This is not coincidental. The well-documented links between male domestic violence and far-right activism are not incidental, the two feed each other.

Effective defence

With this in mind, Searchlight believes the time has come to take seriously the task of organising effective defence of our meetings and social events, in Manchester and in other cities where this threat is crystallising.

We reported recently a fascist attempt to attack an anti-fascist fundraiser in Bristol, and then threaten a Together fundraiser in Devon. The threat of fascist violence is emerging across the country.

The situation demands to be taken seriously. We have witnessed two deliberate, targeted attacks on two female MPs within a week.

At times like this, we do well to remember Jo Cox. Her murderer held views that would not be out of place among the thugs now operating on Manchester’s streets.

Intelligence-led activism

The lesson of history is clear: it is the combination of community self-defence and intelligence-led activism that defeats fascist street violence. But it must be organised to be effective. What we witnessed in Piccadilly Gardens yesterday cannot be allowed to become the new normal.

We know how to prevent it. It’s time to organise seriously.