These were the scenes as a Pro-Britain demonstration swept through Blackpool Town Centre. Protestors waved England flags, and wore St George’s Cross face coverings to show their patriotism.
However, the protest was also attended by a few ‘mindless thugs’, who threw objects - including glass bottles - at police, and became violent. The video (click to play above) shows the tension between some of the protestors and police, as a man can be heard raising his voice at an officer.
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Later in the video, the crowds are seen up at St John’s Square, as the rally - which was partly about anti-immigration - moved outside the Winter Gardens, where Rebellion Punk Festival was taking place. Festival-goers can be seen amidst the protestors, some who were counter-protesting with anti-fascist banners while some helped to clean up the mess - including broken glass from bottles that were thrown.
I like that: an anti-immigrant demonstration runs into 10,000 punks - one contingent of punks is all up for a rumble, the others are helping tidy up.
The BBC makes the march sound less peaceful:
Nearly 1,000 protesters have been involved in disorder after a protest in one of England’s best-known seaside resorts.
Bottles were thrown at police, as officers struggled to contain the demonstrators, who were mainly from far-right groups, in Blackpool.
Some demonstrators were seen making racist gestures and heard shouting racist abuse as they were held back by police horses and dogs.
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The protest coincided with the resort’s annual Rebellion punk festival and some of those attending staged a counter-protest.
It led to a tense stand-off between the two groups, in which chairs, bottles and planks of wood were thrown.