No action will be taken after counter-protestor calls for trans people to be slaughtered
Lancashire Police say they sought legal advice and were informed it was not a criminal offence
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
The Metropole may be finished as an asylum hotel, but that doesn’t mean the auditors will leave Blackpool alone.
A transgender march of visibility and solidarity was held in Blackpool last week. And while there was a counter-protest alongside it, what that really means is an opportunity to verbally abuse a different minority in Blackpool.
This matters. Scepticism towards transgender rights have grown across the board since 2022.
All of which makes a statement like “they all need slaughtering” being given by a counter protestor - and police taking no action - especially hard to stomach.
We dig into the story of the march - and counter protest - for today’s edition.
Blackpool briefing
🩺 More than 140 members of managerial staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital are facing demotion to a lower pay grade as part of emergency savings proposals.
Worried and unhappy employees say they morale is at an all-time low as cash-strapped Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust looks to make saving of around half a million pounds.
The Trust employs 6,000 personnel providing acute and community healthcare services across the Fylde Coast, Lancashire, and South Cumbria. The staff affected by the proposals, employees at Band 6-8 level, have been informed that a 30-day consultation period has been launched into the proposals, which is due to end on August 30.
It comes as Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is experiencing significant financial difficulties, as part of the wider NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), which needs to make massive savings.
Some staff would see pay cuts by as much as £300 a month – up to £3,600 a year.
🏠 Blackpool Council is seeking a development partner for its ambitious - but controversial - regeneration project around Central Drive.
Backed by £90.4m of Homes England grant funding, the plan will see the demolition of up to 300 properties to be replaced by 230 ‘energy-efficient’ homes.
While most accept the area is in need of regeneration, campaigners feel they are being forced out of their home by the process.
Cllr Lynn Williams, leader of Blackpool Council, said: “People who live in central Blackpool deserve quality housing, nice neighbourhoods and green spaces where they want to raise their children.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a developer to be part of Blackpool’s transformation story. We are looking for a development partner who shares our ambition to create high-quality homes, attractive public spaces and a thriving community that will improve the lives of local people for decades to come.
“Central Blackpool has enormous potential. This project is about far more than housing. It is about creating a sustainable neighbourhood, tackling long-standing challenges and providing the foundations for future growth and investment. The project doesn’t stand alone either. We are bringing new social housing, jobs and community facilities to the central Blackpool area already and are in the middle of a wider £2bn transformation of Blackpool as a place.
“We want to hear from organisations who have the vision, expertise and commitment to join us on this journey to make Blackpool better for the people who live here.”
🫣 Reform UK home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf has been caught in a war of words on the former-Twitter with former Conservative defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Wallace, once MP for Lancaster and Wyre and Wyre and Preston North, criticised Reform UK’s pledge to deport foreign nationals from jails to countries such as El Salvador. In response, Yusuf called him a moron and a traitor.
It was beyond the pale for even Nigel Farage, who promised to give him a ‘ticking off’.
Andrew Snowden, Conservative MP for Fylde, told The Blackpool Lead: “Zia Yusuf, a former banker, calling Ben Wallace, a former Army officer who was mentioned in despatches for gallantry, a ‘moron, says far more about Reform’s leadership than it does about anything else.
“Reform tells people what they want to hear, without any credible plans to actually deliver. When challenged, its leaders resort to lashing out and trading insults rather than answering serious questions.”
📚 A disciplinary case against a now-former Blackpool teacher has ended with her being cleared of wrongdoing.
Clare Percival’s impending hearing was covered by The Gazette in June, though the accusation against her was not detailed.
At Percival’s request, the Teacher Regulation Agency has revealed that its professional conduct panel “did not find the case proved”.
March marred by counter-protest calls for trans people to be slaughtered - and no action taken
By Luke Beardsworth
Protestors who marched in solidarity with the transgender community in Blackpool have expressed their shock that no action will be taken by police against a counter protestor who called for them to be slaughtered.
A march was held on Wednesday, 5 August, after the new rules were brought in which mean single-sex toilets, changing-rooms and hospital wards must be used based on a person’s birth sex rather than the gender by which they identify.
This followed the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling which confirmed that the legal definition of a man and a woman is made from their biological sex at birth.
But critics believe that the ruling, and new rules brought in by the UK government in response to the ruling, will create extra challenges for an already vulnerable community.
The march in Blackpool was broadly deemed to be successful by organisers but they were met by a counter protest which included the recording of the march, abuse being shouted, one person walking across the transgender flag brought to the comedy carpet by protestors, and another saying that transgender people should be ‘slaughtered’.
It was that remark that caused the most upset and, while Lancashire Constabulary investigated the incident, they concluded that no further action was necessary.
Cllr Matthew Thomas, who represents Brunswick ward but also acts as LGBT community champion for Blackpool Council, says the failure to take action is dangerous.
He told The Blackpool Lead: “I can’t understand why the police have not taken action. I can’t see any logical reason behind it other than perhaps it has not been shared enough. If more people have seen it, there is potential the CPS realise they have made a mistake.
“But without a doubt, the language and the words used were a hate crime and incitement of violence towards a particular community. Unchecked, that could be incredibly dangerous.”
The protest was held with the aim primarily of being ‘visible’ but also highlighting the challenges the new rules will create for the transgender community. But it very quickly became apparent that it was not going to pass completely smoothly.
Cllr Thomas said: “Police were well aware there was going to be a counter protest. When I got there, there were already a few of these so-called auditors gathered around trying to get footage for their TikToks and their YouTubes. At that point, things were fairly calm.
“However, throughout the walk it was increasingly more intimidating. When a few more people that are well-known in those circles were there, they started weaving in and out of the march. That included Tom O’Keefe, who has a restraining order, putting himself right in front of Chris Webb [whom the order refers to] to start shouting at the march.
“These counter protestors weren’t representative of the people that were around in Blackpool. There were families that clapped and cheered when they saw the banner, so it was a shame that the counter protesters sought to intimidate in the way that they did.”
O’Keefe was arrested but later released with no action taken.
Things took a turn for the worse when the protest reached the Comedy Carpet.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Blackpool Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.