BANNERS were raised in Manchester on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre more than 200 years ago.

Eighteen people died and hundreds were injured in the attack on textile workers and their families when sabre-wielding troops attacked a peaceful crowd of workers calling for democracy on August 16 1819.

On Saturday, trade unionists and activists led by the Public and Commercial Service’s samba band marched through Manchester city centre to rally at the Peterloo Monument which was erected in 2019 to mark the 200th anniversary of the attack.

Speakers rallied the crowd with calls for a continuation of the Peterloo workers’ struggle.

Former Labour MP and People’s Assembly national secretary Laura Pidcock said: “Two hundred years ago, the people made very modest demands about democracy, representation and food poverty. 

“What happened? They were met with brutality, the brutality of the state, the magistrates, with blood spattered on these streets.

“What are the parallels today? 4.2 million children in poverty, untold wealth of corporations, families worrying about how to feed their children, 2,500 foodbanks – and this is a deliberate policy.”

Ms Pidcock called for a mass mobilisation to protest at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on October 1.

Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union president Ian Hodson said that since the 1819 attack, workers had had “great successes” when they came together in solidarity.

“Margaret Thatcher thought that she could slaughter our movement, kill trade unions, make us believe that no alternative was possible,” he said.

“But we have never given up hope and we never will.”

The Peterloo commemoration was organised by Greater Manchester Association of Trade Union Councils and the People’s Assembly.