By Josh Else
Photography: Nguyen Bui Vu

On Theresa May’s 61st birthday, over 50,000 protesters took to the streets with the message “Bollocks to Brexit” ringing loud and clear in a bid to disrupt the Conservative Party conference.

Led by a monstrous float featuring Theresa May, Boris Johnson, David Davis and Michael Gove, protesters marched the streets roaring anti-Brexit chants.

£2 million was spent to ensure police forces and security could oversee the events of the day, however, no arrests were made during the protest.

Theresa May reportedly plans to “regain control over immigration and end supremacy of EU laws in the UK”, yet protesters felt May was using Brexit as an excuse to implement racist and xenophobic policies.

EU citizens living in the UK were not eligible to vote in the Brexit referendum last year. Around 3.6 million EU citizens live in the UK, leaving a massive number of people unable to have a say on the plans.

A husband deeply concerned about his Italian wife’s future in the UK said:

“I’m here today because I’m very opposed to Brexit. My wife is Italian and we met in Manchester at university. I’m here today in support of her. She has worked as an architect in the UK and she is the coordinator of the3million group in Manchester, who campaign for EU citizens’ rights.

“It’s a disgrace how the Tory Party, Theresa May and David Davis are using EU citizens as bargaining chips in the EU negotiations. They should have had their rights protected right from the beginning.”

UK students have expressed fears that their opportunities to live, work, travel and study elsewhere in Europe will be extremely limited after we leave the EU. There are also concerns over no longer being eligible for domestic rates in Europe. Students are disappointed that their future is being decided by a generation different from them.

Anybody under the age of 18 is ineligible to vote, leaving a huge number of students and teenagers frustrated. “I have nothing left to do, other than march the streets in protest,” said 17-year-old student Francesca from Cardiff.

A protester representing the group Economics Teachers Against Brexit said: “I teach international students and Brexit makes them feel insecure and unwelcome.”

Another protester said: “I’m Greek, and for me growing up in Manchester was all about different cultures coming together. Manchester is a multi-cultural society and it always will be.”

She added: “Marching is more personal, it’s more visible, it makes more of a stance then just posting on Facebook. More people see it when everyone joins together, it shows we are united. A group commenting on Facebook isn’t as visible as all these people marching together.”

After marching through Market street, the protesters stopped on Fennel Street, where speakers, singers and performers entertained and encouraged the crowd throughout the later half of the protest.

A Boris Johnson impersonator took to the stage to “confess” how much of a “cock up” Brexit has been.

Seb Dance, a Labour MP from London, spoke at the event, urging Theresa May: “Don’t let your party be responsible for destroying the country”.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable, described the march as “a powerful national movement” as EU flags and Union Jacks waved through the crowd.

Since the results of the Brexit referendum, there has been a spike in hate crimes throughout the UK. Over 100 hate crimes were logged between July and September 2016, more than twice as many as the total from April to June 2016.

Stephen Dorrell, former conservative MP from John Major’s administration, spoke at the protest. He said, “The interest of all Europeans are best served when we work together.” He went on to state that the country deserves “the opportunity to change our minds”.

Julie Ward, Labour MP from North West England, called Manchester a “proud remain city”, saying leave voters were “ill-informed”and “did not understand what they were voting for”. Ward also said: “Brexit doesn’t represent solidarity for women, refugees, the LGBT community and people with disabilities.”

Erinma Bell, a community cohesion worker added: “Manchester is diverse and beautiful and we shouldn’t lose that.”

Dr Mike Galsworthy who initiated Scientists for EU spoke at the event, commenting: “Science is a global community bubbling with international scientists”.

Galsworthy said 39% of scientific output comes from Europe, calling the EU the “glue” of the science community. He said that Brexit “gutted” the science community. With investments and the value of the Great British pound dropping, UK scientists are left in limbo.

The Brexit referendum had a very close result, with 48% of voters opting to stay in the EU. Can the government really ignore those millions of people? As well as that, many leave voters have since changed their minds on leaving the EU.

Given the close result of the EU referendum, with over 48% of voters opting to remain in part of Europe, and the fact that many ‘leave’ voters have since reconsidered in light of the result’s implications, whether the government should continue to press ahead with Brexit remains under debate.

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