‘Hundreds and thousands’ of people in Greater Manchester have been left ‘looking over their shoulder’ as they leave their homes following far-right demonstrations over the weekend, according to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

The mayor – who is the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner – addressed members of the press alongside deputy mayor for policing Kate Green and Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig on Monday, August 5.

Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.

In his speech – which can be read in full here – Mr Burnham thanked Greater Manchester Police officers for their work over the weekend and said he would ‘personally ensure’ that the force would get ‘all the resources they need to maintain control’.

Missiles were thrown in Bolton on Sunday, August 4, during a demonstration where the far-right clashed with counter-demonstrators. A day before, police clashed with demonstrators in Piccadilly Gardens, with fighting breaking out following a demonstration.

A total of 23 arrests have so far been made following the violence in both parts of the city-region.

Mr Burnham said: “People are being brought before the courts today and will continue to be brought before them for the remainder of this week. Many more offenders are being identified.

“More doors will be knocked on, and more offenders will be brought to justice.

“There is not, and there will never be, two-tier policing in Greater Manchester. Criminality is criminality. If you break the law, you will face the consequences, it’s as simple as that.”

Follow The Bolton News on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and TikTok.

Concluding his speech, the mayor added: “This morning there were hundreds and thousands of people in our city-region who will have gone out of their doors to work, looking over their shoulder.

“Just think about that for one minute and what that must feel like. Some of the people taking to the streets and shouting ‘we want our country back’ in fact want to make it something it has never been before: a place where people fear for their safety going about their everyday business.

“We must not and we will not let them prevail.”

Answering questions following the conclusion of speeches, the Greater Manchester mayor said morale was ‘high’ in GMP – but urged those planning to counter-protest the far-right demonstrations to stay away.

He said: “The emphasis is always on peaceful protest – not on confrontation, and sometimes the counter-protests can lead to confrontation and the flashpoint that those who are coming to the city are looking for.

“It can actually bring the oxygen of publicity to what they are saying, so I just am asking people to think twice about doing that – this is a difficult situation, we need to be lowering the temperature not raising it, we need to be making the job of GMP easier not harder, and I hope that’s a message that everybody in Greater Manchester will understand.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.