A man has been charged with assaulting the former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith in Manchester last year.
Elliot Bovill, 31, appeared in Manchester Magistrates’ Court, where he was accused of common assault against the senior Tory MP in the city centre on 4 October 2021, although it was confirmed that no further details of the offence were read out during the hearing, and Mr Bovill did not enter a plea.
The incident occurred while the Conservative Party Conference was happening in Manchester city centre, and was said to have happened while Sir Iain was walking to a fringe event with his wife, Betsy.
Sir Iain was due to take part in a talk with then-Brexit minister, Lord David Frost, at the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.
At the time of the incident, the former Tory party leader told The Spectator that he had been struck on the back of the head “with a traffic cone”, and he also told the BBC that protestors shouted “Tory scum” at him while he made his way to the fringe event – but he managed to escape from the situation without any serious injury.
He told The Spectator: “For half a second I was about to go up and punch them, I went forward and they all backed off – I nearly knocked them out, lost my rag”.
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Sir Iain also told the BBC at the time: “They then decided to follow me and started shouting abuse, such as ‘Tory scum’ and any other reason they could think of. I carried on walking and when I was getting close to the place [where I had a meeting], someone came up with one of those rather heavy traffic cones and tried to smack me with it in the back of the head.”
Greater Manchester Police arrested five people following the incident.
During the hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, Mr Bovill was told that the case was being moved to Westminster Magistrates’ Court, and was granted unconditional bail to appear again on 16 May.
Two other people have also been charged in connection with the incident.
Radical Haslam, 28, of New Wakefield Street, Manchester, and Ruth Wood, 50, of Oak Tree Avenue, Cambridge, are accused of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence.
Mr Haslam did not attend court, but Ms Wood appeared by video link and was also bailed until 16 May.
Manchester’s AO Arena scoop up Take That as Keane’s Co-op Live gig is cancelled in ongoing venue saga
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s existing arena, the AO Arena, has stepped in to host more concerts that have been postponed by Co-op Live, with yet another act being cancelled too.
First it was A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, announced earlier today and now, in perhaps the most damning twist of fate for the brand-new venue, Take That’s five-night run that was set for the Co-op Live this May has now been moved to the AO Arena.
Their two June dates at the new arena are said to be unaffected.
The Co-op Live‘s official opening has been hit with several delays, with events like Peter Kay’s double bill, Olivia Rodrigo and The Black Keys all already postponed over the last week or so.
Issuing a statement after rescuing multiple Take That shows, AO Arena general manager Jen Mitchell, said: “It wouldn’t be a Take That tour without a stop-off in Manchester, so it’s great to welcome the band and their fans back to AO Arena for five nights, in the heart of this wonderful city.”
The venue has naturally welcomed the sudden flood of extra names being added to its already strong lineup for 2024, doing its best to minimise inconvenience for gig-goers who have made travel arrangements, booked hotels etc.
As for the group themselves, they also responded to their tens of thousands of fans expecting to see them from this weekend onwards.
Confessing that they’ve had to make “the difficult decision” to switch venues and although “it’s not one [they’ve taken lightly], they wanted to give fans as much notice as possible”, adding: “We thank you for your understanding and we’ll see you all soon”.
Meanwhile, Noughties favourites Keane have sadly had to shelve their Manchester show for the foreseeable following the venue’s continuing “technical issues”.
Announcing the news on their social pages on Thursday evening, they admitted that they were “absolutely gutted” but that the decision was “entirely out of the control”.
Notably, the huge new venue by the Etihad Stadium had to turn away fans who were already queueing for A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on Monday 1 May, after part of an air conditioning unit fell from the ceiling onto a (thankfully) empty arena floor.
Question marks had already been hanging over whether some upcoming gigs would be able to go ahead and now it seems that they will be taking place – just not at the Co-op Live…
Manchester’s decades-old AO Arena, the largest indoor venue in the UK (until the Co-op Live opens), will be welcoming Keane to its stage instead.
With so many people having been pitting the two venues against one another over the last weeks and months, let’s just say it’s quite clear who’s come out looking better at the minute…
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie moves Manchester gig to AO Arena following Co-op Live cancellation
Danny Jones
Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has confirmed that his cancelled Co-op Live gig has now been moved to Manchester’s AO Arena this weekend.
After suddenly being lined up as the venue’s first official gig after the postponement of both Peter Kay and The Black Keys, the American hip-hop artists’ show ended up going the same as the others previously scheduled for the new arena and being pulled at the last minute.
With guests being turned away from the still-yet-to-open Co-op Live Arena just hours before the show was set to start, and Olivia Rodrigo fans being given the same unfortunate news ahead of her gig this Saturday, ABWDH has taken matters into his own hands.
Announcing the rescheduling of his concert on X, the 28-year-old artist confirmed that Wednesday night’s gig has now been relocated to Co-op’s main rival, the AO Arena.
Set to take place on Saturday, the artist – which just so happens to be his first name (yes, seriously) – had a simple message for his fans: “We won’t give up that easy, let’s go!”.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped the venue – which is set to become the UK’s biggest indoor entertainment venue and one of the largest in Europe when it finally does open – from announcing more events over the coming months and well into 2025.
Confirming the show on their social pages, the AO simply promised, “It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here.”
The AO Arena has hosted some of the biggest names in the entire world in the course of its existence and recently underwent a £50m refurbishment that included the launch of The Mezz.
Safe to say this presents an interesting twist in events when so many people have been pitting the two venues against one another.
Question marks have been hanging over whether more upcoming gigs, like Keane on Sunday 5 May, and then a five-night run of gigs from Take That will still be able to go ahead.
It remains to be seen whether other artists will follow suit in moving their shows should more cancellations/postponements be announced.
You can recap everything that’s happened so far down below: