Six people were arrested at UKIP’s latest march in Liverpool.
A rally for the far-right group took under the banner of ‘Walk with Jesus’ planned to start from outside the Metropolitan Cathedral from midday on Saturday (March 21).
The demonstration was condemned by spiritual leaders as well as Liverpool City Council, who admitted they had no powers to ban the demonstration taking place.
But a counter-demonstration organised by Merseyside Stand Up To Racism was already underway by 10am with hundreds of people occupying the cathedral steps.
The UKIP group of around 50 people, which included the party’s leader Nick Tenconi, were initially blockaded from beginning their march down Mount Pleasant.
They returned to the meeting point, where they stayed for the next hour, before walking down the pavement of Mount Pleasant towards Clarence Street.
A stand-off between the demo and counter-protestors ensued before Merseyside Police officers formed a divide which remained in effect for a further 45 minutes.
The force confirmed that six people in total were arrested following the march, three of which were taken into police custody. They were:
A 45-year-old man from Ormskirk was arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace.
A 26-year-old man from Netherton was arrested for breach of bail conditions.
A 24-year-old man from Bangor was arrested on suspicion of being a public assembly participant failing to comply with a condition (breach of a Section 60AA order).
Chief Superintendent Zoe Thornton said: “There was a large policing presence in Liverpool city centre today to ensure the safety of all those taking part as well as the wider public.
“We will never tolerate acts of criminality or anti-social behaviour and while the vast majority of people who attended did so lawfully and peacefully, six people were arrested with three people being taken into custody.
“A decision was made to introduce a Section 60 order and apply conditions, and conditions were also put on under the Public Order Act 1986 .
“These decisions were not taken lightly, the purpose to reduce the potential risk of violence, and to prevent the intimidation of others.
“As a police force, we must uphold everyone’s rights to protest peacefully, while also aiming to keep the peace and ensure the public are safe.
“We make detailed and co-ordinated plans ahead of such events to ensure we can apply this consistently, fairly and proportionately.
“We would like to thank members of the public for their patience throughout the day.”