Police officers stopped a nurses' protest held in St Peter's Square today.
Health workers organised the demonstration in response to the government's proposed 1 per cent pay rise for NHS workers.
Yet the small, peaceful rally was halted by over a dozen officers from Greater Manchester Police shortly after midday.
It is not clear why protesters were moved on but organisers at the demonstration claimed they had been told they would be fined for breaching coronavirus laws if they continued.
One woman could be seen being arrested by police for 'obstructing' officers. GMP have not yet released a statement over the incident
"Unfortunately the police have told us we can't proceed with this despite what's going on in the health service," Karen Reissman, a health worker, told the crowd gathered in the city centre.
Watch the moment police stopped the protest on our Facebook page here
"We've been told we will not be able to go ahead with this, I'll be fined and reported to my employer and disciplined and people here will be fined as well, so we will therefore be shutting it down.
"I think we've made the point we wanted to make, we sent a message to the government. I think it's outrageous that somehow this is deemed illegal when the size of the crowd here will be ten times bigger in hundreds and thousands of schools tomorrow morning.
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"This isn't about safety, this is about the government trying to stamp down on protest which I think is a dying shame. The health service will lose out."
Health unions have criticised the Government's proposed pay rise, calling it 'insulting'
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On Friday Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the proposed increase was being put forward on the basis of “affordability”.
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference, he hailed the “incredible” work of NHS staff but said the coronavirus pandemic had brought “financial consequences” for the country.
Mr Hancock said: “The evidence that was put forward yesterday was on the basis of affordability.”
He added: “We’ve proposed what we think is affordable to make sure that in the NHS people do get a pay rise and I think it is fair to take into account all the considerations, the incredible hard work of those in the NHS, which means they are not part of the overall public sector pay freeze and also what’s affordable as a nation.”
Ms Reissmann, who is health worker and Unison rep, had said ahead of the protest: "20 per cent loss of pay in real terms over the last 11 years and a year of pandemic where health workers have faced Covid, often without proper PPE, lost their lives or got chronic Long covid, been traumatised and exhausted with the volume of work.
"We were applauded from across the country, including Johnson and Sunak.
"And then Rishi Sunak announces he has put`only 1 per cent in NHS budget for our pay "rise" and expects us to be grateful that it is not the zero he is giving all the other key workers.
"Well we are not grateful. We are ANGRY.
"It's insulting - to us, to our patients, to the NHS to working people everywhere.”
