Cops arrest 14 far-right yobs including man with hammer in Newcastle as anti-racists & police countered thugs across UK
ANTI-racism protesters were out in force again yesterday to take on the far-right at gatherings around the country.
In Newcastle, hundreds drowned out a small group which included one person waving a white nationalism flag.
The counter-protesters held pre-printed Stand Up to Racism placards.
Homemade signs said “Newcastle is united” and “smash racism”.
Others chanted: “Refugees welcome here.”
The rival groups were kept apart by an army of cops, who had been given extra powers to stop and search.
A dispersal order imposed a temporary ban on face coverings.
A man was among 14 people detained at an anti-immigration rally in the city after allegedly being found with a hammer.
Others were arrested for failing to comply with either stop-and-search or dispersal orders.
Elsewhere, more than 1,500 grouped together in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens to take a stance against racism.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the HQ of MP Nigel Farage’s Reform Party in Westminster in the afternoon — holding aloft a black-and-white banner which read: “No to Farage. No to racism. No to hatred.”
In Belfast, about 15,000 people took part in an anti-racism rally, following a week of unrest and disorder in the city.