a bad day for political debate

I was told it was dangerous to speak to UKIP protesters...

- By LOUIS CORBETT

WHILE I attempted to report both sides fairly and with impartiality, it was made difficult by the tense situation that I found myself in.

Police were, quite rightly, enforcing a strict and controlled operation, while UKIP members were relaying messages which caused grave hostility.

To say tensions were running high would be an understatement.

When I first arrived at the protest I was able to move freely between the ranks of police officers, which formed a 25-metre-wide wall to stop protesters and counter protesters clashing.

But as more and more UKIP activists arrived there seemed to be a shift in the policing approach that meant media were no longer allowed to move freely between the lines, or so I thought.

It turns out that a person in the vicinity of the UKIP gathering had been relaying information to the police to state they were not going to engage with mainstream media, and I was then told it “would be dangerous for me” to be on that side of the protest.

But at the end of a somewhat confusing march around the city centre, I managed to get a word in with UKIP leader Nick Tenconi, in the name of good journalistic practice and impartiality.

I had already spoken to counter protesters and trade unionists about their stance and motives - and this latest approach was a nerve-racking one.

Just two hours before, a police officer had a quiet word to tell me to err on the side of caution and to tread carefully when approaching the fringe right-wing group, such was the volatility of the occasion.