Anti-lockdown protesters descend on Manchester Piccadilly Gardens.
On Thursday, England entered a second national lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
However, anti-lockdown protests have occurred since then, with the most recent in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens on 8th November.
Huge crowds gathered, despite social distancing measures being in place across the country. One held a sign that read: “fear is the currency of control”. Protesters could be heard urging people to remove their face masks.
The Greater Manchester Police urged protesters to comply with the coronavirus restrictions, reminding them that groups of more than two people are unlawful at the present time, other than for specific purposes.
Some business owners are refusing to close for the lockdown. A Wigan gym owner said he would not close his business during the lockdown, despite being visited by police and council enforcement officers.
The gym owner, Mr Harper, stated: “I am trying to survive at the moment. Where is the fairness that there is a factory either side of me with more workers in it than I have members in the business?”
Alex Lowndes, who runs Gainz Fitness and Strength, with his wife Amber, said in a post on Instagram: “We need to be allowed to stay open, we are staying open. We hope that that becomes legal in time.”
Manchester Metropolitan University students have expressed their opinion regarding the lockdown, with some displaying potentially offensive images and language in the windows of the student accommodation.
A spokesperson for the university stated: “The University respects freedom of speech, and to that end, the right of our students to express their views.”
Those living at the University of Manchester’s Fallowfield halls of residence awoke to find workers putting up “huge metal barriers”. Students said the fences made them feel trapped, as entry and exit points were blocked off.
Students have torn down the “prison-like” fencing erected around their campus on day one of England’s new lockdown. “People were dragging them down and jumping on them,” said one resident.
The university apologised “for the concern and distress caused”.
