Charlotte Church to write open letter to journalist who was spat on

Singer and political activist Charlotte Church has signalled her intention to write an open letter to one of the journalists who was spat at during the anti-austerity march in Manchester on Sunday.

Owen Bennett, a reporter for Huffington Post, was attacked during the demonstration while with a fellow journalist from the Telegraph, Kate McCann.

The pair were reportedly told by police who were sheltering them that they could not leave because the crowd could "lynch you in a minute".

While there were several other ugly incidents during the protests, including one young Tory activist being egged outside the Conservative party conference, Church wants to make the point that the overwhelming majority of the estimated 60,000 in attendance were there to demonstrate peacefully.

Church, who was accused by justice secretary Michael Gove on Sunday of being one of a few "comfortable millionaires who flaunt [their] opinions" despite living in a "cosseted bubble", told a press conference on Monday morning:

I'm sure it was a horrible experience and I plan to write an open letter on behalf of the majority of people who were protesting that day just to say we're really sorry and this isn't what it's about - to represent the rest of the people who were there who would never act like that.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is due to address an anti-austerity rally at Manchester Cathedral this evening.

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