Green MP Hannah Spencer given police escort after being confronted by anti-trans activists
Hannah Spencer was speaking at an event in Manchester prior to the incident (Gary Roberts/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/PoliticsJOE)
Newly-elected Green MP Hannah Spencer was ushered into a police car after she was confronted by anti-trans activists following her appearance at an anti-far right demonstration.
The pro-LGBTQ+ Gorton and Denton MP, who gave Zack Polanski’s party their first ever by-election victory last month, beat out Reform’s Matt Goodwin and Labour’s Angeliki Stogia with just under 41 per cent of the vote.
The by-election was a disaster for Keir Starmer’s Labour, which came third despite consistently holding the seat since at least 1931.
On Sunday (8 March), which was International Women’s Day, Spencer spoke at an event in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens to launch Together Alliance, an anti-far right organisation.
Together Alliance has a huge march planned for 28 March in London in opposition to rising facism, with numerous trade unions, charities and activist groups set to take to the streets.
After her speech, Spencer was making her way across Piccadilly Gardens in the city centre and was confronted by anti-trans activists who questioned her views, before a scuffle broke out between groups.
Video footage taken at the screen and subsequently shared on social media shows Spencer being chased by two men, one which was wearing a placard that read ‘There’s No Such Thing As A Transgender Child’ and the other wearing one that said ‘Keep Men Out Of Women’s Spaces’.
“Can men give birth?” one of the men can be heard asking in the clip.
Another question can be heard: “Can a woman have a penis, Hannah?”
Volunteers in hi-vis and anti-trans activists came to blows as Spencer walked away from the event, while one of the men also got in a confrontation with a woman who attempted to remove his transphobic placard.
Officers from Greater Manchester Police separated the two groups from each other, issuing verbal warnings to those getting physical.
Amid the violence, Spencer was ushered into a waiting police car and escorted from the scene.
During her speech earlier on, Spencer had described Together Alliance as: “It’s about a movement of people coming together, finding common ground, getting together, working together, mobilising and defeating politics of hatred and division.
“And last week we did exactly that. We showed Greater Manchester at its finest and we kicked out people who are here to stir hatred.”
A spokesperson for the Green Party said the incident was caused by “a few angry men” who sought to “spread anti-trans bigotry”.
“Hannah was talking today in Manchester about community cohesion and unity,” the spokesperson continued. “A few angry men, attempting to spread anti-trans bigotry, chose this moment to try to silence and harass Hannah.
“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.
“Worse still, some of the abuse faced by Hannah included the same misinformation and outright lies shared by her political opponents online.”
They added: “Hannah won’t be silenced and will continue to speak up for the communities that she has been elected to represent.”
PinkNews has contacted the Green Party for further comment.
