Ugly Violence Taints EDL Leicester Demo

The following video clip looks damning and very ugly indeed (hat tip Goodnight Vienna). There is absolutely no excuse for violence such as this by people claiming membership of or support for the EDL or any other group. If anyone knows who these men are, they need to have the book thrown at them. They tarnish the reputation of anyone who speaks out against Islamism in our country. By all means protest against Islamisation, but never ever behave in a fashion such as this. Target the ideology, not people. There is a world of difference between advocating a particular political position and this repellent behaviour.

What on earth did these idiots hope to achieve? They are not fit to be considered fellow Englishmen. I'm just glad that nobody in the restaurant came to any physical harm. Good luck to the police in finding them.

BBC plugs ‘We are One Leicester Peace Festival’

Yesterday the BBC gave a plug to the above ‘festival’ held in Leicester following Saturday's demonstration by the EDL. As is evident from the video report below, the BBC’s claim that “Thousands of people showed their opposition to an English Defence League (EDL) protest in Leicester by holding a festival of peace in the city” seemed to be rather overstating the numbers involved.

Unsurprisingly, the so-called ‘Bard of Barking’, otherwise known as Billy Bragg, was on hand to provide out-of-tune singing and some predictable quotes for the cameras. Bragg stated “Down the generations each generation has had to confront the racists and the fascists, you know that my parents’ generation in the war, my generation in rock against racism and a new generation today with the English Defence League.”

Once again, Bragg deploys the standard smears against the EDL, claiming that they are “racists and fascists”. The BBC of course is happy to broadcast these lies as they dovetail neatly with its own deeply ingrained cultural relativist Islamoservile editorial stance. Interestingly, an online article on the event also quotes Bragg as stating:

I'm here because I am a patriot. I have come to Leicester because I care about this great, multicultural city and I am proud to be English. I wanted to come here and say it is not acceptable for anyone to use the symbols of my country to intimidate everyone else.

There you have it: Billy Bragg the lover of multicultural Leicester. Indeed, Bragg is so enamoured of the contemporary urban multicultural experience that he upped sticks from Barking and settled in Dorset. Mercifully, Dorset is still what Greg Dyke would describe as being “hideously white” or, more accurately, English. So, perhaps deep down Billy Bragg really is an English patriot acting in bad faith, which is why despite his words in praise of multiculturalism he has firmly turned his back on it in practice. When you move back to Barking or make your home in Leicester or Bradford Billy, then we may accord some credence to the cant that you currently utter.

Chris Lough delivers EDL Leicester Speech

The video below shows Chris Lough delivering his speech at yesterday’s EDL anti-Islamisation demonstration in Leicester. Listen to his words. I for one cannot hear anything in what he says that suggests that either he or the EDL are the bunch of neo-Nazis that their detractors claim they are. The simple fact of the matter is that UAF, the mainstream media and our political class lie about the EDL; they seek to stigmatise them because they are a grassroots movement which dares to speak the awkward truth about the advance of doctrinaire Islam in our country.

The organisers of UAF – the SWP – think that they can use Islamists to foment a climate of radical violence in our country with a view to undermining our state and society, thus they support them. The mainstream media are uncritical of doctrinaire Islam because its personnel are so steeped in cultural relativism as a goal rather than a method that their critical and moral faculties have become neutralised. Our mainstream politicians will not deal with the problem for a combination of reasons: fear of losing votes in constituencies with high concentrations of Muslims; uncritical adherence to cultural relativism and, lastly but by no means least, fear of radical Muslim violence were they to recognise and address the problem.

EDL and MDL on the Streets of Leicester

The following videos taken in Leicester yesterday illustrate the scale of the police operation in ensuring that rival demonstrators from the EDL and UAF did not clash. One element present in Leicester that the mainstream media chose not to highlight was the so-called Muslim Defence League (MDL), which sprang into being earlier this year in anti-homage to the English Defence League. Like the EDL, this is more an idea and an amorphous movement reliant upon social networking technologies than an organisation with a strictly defined hierarchy. It will of course have its key activists and agitators, but the MDL is no monolith.

However, unlike the EDL the MDL draws the bulk of its street presence at protests from amongst the locally resident population, from Muslim ‘communities’ as the mainstream media likes to refer to such neighbourhoods.  Thus those labelled as members of the MDL in the videos below may in some cases see themselves as such, but in many instances I am sure that the people you see will be resident Muslims either looking for a fight or coming out to ‘protect’ one of their mosques which they were misled into believing would be subject to EDL attack. As I outlined last month, this piece of police ‘intelligence’ appears to have been fabricated with the express intent of banning the EDL from protesting in Leicester. This naturally caused unnecessary and unwarranted alarm amongst Muslim residents and generated a climate of fear that stoked the violence that occurred yesterday.

Lack of Clarity in BBC Report on Violence and Arrests at Leicester Demonstrations

The latest available BBC report on yesterday’s EDL and UAF demonstrations in Leicester reveals that some ugly violent incidents marred the day and a number of arrests were made. However, as you will see from the excerpt reproduced below, the report is written in such a way as not to reveal who was arrested and why. An anonymous commentator on my blog has claimed that some EDL members engaged in acts of violence, and I would be surprised given the numbers involved (the BBC’s revised estimates now stand at 2,000 for the EDL and 600 for UAF) if the demonstration had been entirely peaceful. Let me once again however make it clear that I do not condone violence, but I support the EDL’s right to protest peacefully. Anyone who deliberately initiates and engages in acts of violence must expect the full force of the law to be brought against them.

Given the BBC’s editorial hostility towards the EDL and the anti-Islamisation movement in general, it is therefore surprising that it does not mention how many of the thirteen arrested were from amongst the ranks of the EDL. This suggests to me that as in Bolton earlier this year the majority of arrests were of UAF counter-demonstrators. Indeed in Harrow on 11 September 2009 UAF demonstrators and hothead elements in the local Muslim population attacked the police at the site of a demonstration planned by Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), even though the demonstration itself didn’t take place. Likewise, not long after that they attacked the police in Luton with a variety of items including fireworks even though there was no EDL protest. Unite Against Fascism has a long history of seeking to stir up anti-English hatred and initiating violence in pursuit of its Trotskyist violent revolutionary strategy, as the guiding members of UAF such as Martin Smith and Weyman Bennett are members of the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) Central Committee.

Even the BBC cannot gloss over the reality of UAF violence, hence its report only makes mention of one specific incident of directed violence, and this was against two EDL coaches which were leaving the city. For me, “throwing stones and bricks” at vehicles is simply inexcusable, for serious injury or death could have resulted. Read the excerpt below, and draw your own conclusions:

Thirteen men have been arrested during two protests in Leicester, which sparked the biggest police operation in the county for 25 years.

The English Defence League (EDL) held a static demonstration and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) staged a counter-protest on Humberstone Gate East. 

Riot police moved in after several fireworks, bottles and coins were thrown.

There were also reports of violence away from the demonstration site.

Gangs were seen throwing stones and bricks at two coaches carrying EDL supporters as they left the city.

Those arrested at the main protest site were aged between 30 and 42 and were not from the Leicester area

UAF in Leicester: Noisy, Repetitious and Tedious

In my previous post you will have seen video footage of the EDL demonstrating in Leicester yesterday, so I thought that I’d also ‘treat’ you to the sight of the Socialist Workers’ Party guided UAF counter-demonstrators who turned up in Leicester. The chanting makes it evident that these people have been so wound up and indoctrinated that they mechanically reproduce the same old slogans coupled with emotions of self-righteous hatred wherever they go. Up goes the old and misplaced shrill refrain “Nazi scum, off our streets!” Well, if they were truly interested in ridding our streets of the nearest contemporary equivalents of what they describe as “Nazi scum”, then they really ought to be joining with the EDL and protesting against Islamism, but these folk just don’t get it. They really don’t get it. Why is the world filled with vapid, empty-headed, dangerous anti-rational fools?

What really happened at the EDL Leicester Demo? Video Footage and Reflections on Press Reports

UPDATE: If you are looking for information on the EDL Demo  in Leicester protesting on behalf of Rhea Page and other English victims of racism on 4 February 2012 please visit the video and article here: 

http://durotrigan.blogspot.com/2012/01/edl-promo-video-rhea-paige-leicester.html

This is something upon which I can only speculate, for I was not there. That said, I shall endeavour to provide a more objective perspective than you will find given by any NUJ hack (who in all likelihood also was not present) from the information that is at hand.

The Home Secretary Theresa May had banned the proposed EDL march which meant that protesters were confined to the Humberside Gate East area of the city where they were kettled in by a large number of police officers kitted out in riot gear, with mounted police and dogs also at hand. As is now expected at all EDL demonstrations, UAF mounted a counter-demonstration in the city. The Daily Telegraph estimates the number of supporting demonstrators at circa 1,000 and 700 apiece respectively, which is pretty much in line with the scale of previous protests. However, a later estimate on the BBC website claimed that there were 2,000 EDL protesters present, which is a very large turnout, but its later report on associated violence and arrests lacked clarity. Altogether, some 1,400 police participated in the exercise with many being drafted in from neighbouring forces, netting them some handsome overtime payments.

The BBC report on the demonstration was rather temperate in the language that it employed compared to its previous treatments of the EDL, starting off with a couple of interviews with Leicester residents, including a black middle-aged property developer named Mark James who reflected:

The EDL invited me in to hear what they had to say and I was ready to go in, but the police said I couldn’t, it was too dangerous, it could provoke trouble.

You hear and see terrible things about Islamic extremism, so you can see why people would not want that.

And the neighbourhood I live in here in Leicester is mostly Muslim and every community has its own racism - you don't always here about that.

It seems to me that Mr James is a reasonable man who has a mind of his own and who is keen to find out the facts of the matter for himself rather than relying upon media reports. After moving on to an interview with a young woman from Stoke who expressed sympathy with the EDL, the BBC then relapsed into autopilot and sought to associate the EDL with Nazism. I must confess to being flabbergasted that the BBC always manages to find someone who fled from the Nazis and who is willing to tar ordinary English men and women with this vile and baseless association, but once again they did, this time in the person of Maria Ronner who “grew up in Germany in the 1930s”. What Ronner herself says is not actually that damning, but what is of great interest is the manner in which the BBC hack prefaced her observation. First I shall provide her words, and then the prefatory sentence provided by the BBC:

"I heard about this demonstration last night and did not like what I heard, but I was very curious to see what it was really about," she said.

"I have a great interest in the multicultural society. A great interest. It is important to see how people can understand each other, can learn."

What had she heard and what was she told? I should imagine that she would have been fed the lie that the objectives of the EDL are racist, fascist and far-right, etc, so one can naturally understand that this old woman would “not like” what she “heard”. She had been primed to feed the BBC with the lines that they so desired: the EDL are the new Nazis. However, she didn’t go that far, which is why the BBC journalist saw it necessary to write “But a set of experienced eyes viewed the banners with suspicion” ahead of the quotations. “Banners” and “experienced eyes”? What banners? The EDL carry flags, do they not? Flags of St George. English flags. Not “banners” emblazoned with eagles and swastikas. In what way were Maria Ronner’s eyes “experienced” in this respect? Did she see Nazi stormtroopers marching with crosses of St George against Sharia law in 1930s Germany? I don’t think so. Once again, the BBC displays its typically tendentious reporting, designed to elicit hatred of the EDL and by extension of the English as an ethnic group in line with NUJ guidelines. Still, this report was a model of balance compared to the shockingly poor and partisan quality of the following interview with the ersatz Labour ‘Lord’ and MP ‘Sir Peter Soulsby’ shown below:



The AFP claims that there were eight arrests of protestors today, but as on previous occasions, it did not spell out whether all or any of these were from the EDL or UAF. One set of protesters which the mainstream media ignored were the so-called Muslim Defence League (MDL) who intended to attack the EDL. If you would like to view footage of their activity yesterday including a clash with a small group of EDL protesters take a look at EDL and MDL on the Streets of Leicester.  The videos below give a flavour of the main EDL demonstration, but for some reason the ITN report appears to lack sound.

Politicised Leicestershire Police Force wants to ban EDL Leicester Demo

According to a report appearing in this morning’s Leicester Mercury, Leicestershire Chief Constable Simon Cole has claimed that members of the English Defence League (EDL) are planning to attack a mosque in Leicester as part of their protest in the city on 9 October. Anyone who is aware of what the EDL really stands for knows that it would never do such a thing, and it is crystal clear that this baseless assertion by Leicestershire Constabulary is nothing more than a clumsy attempt to ban the march. Nonetheless, it would seem that this allegation has helped to marshall the votes of the city's councillors, for the BBC reports  that they have voted unanimously for a ban on the march. The Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to take a decision on this request in the coming week, and it seems predictable what the outcome will be.

This assertion that the EDL march poses a “major threat” to public order is based upon a putative intelligence report from 8 September. EDL demonstrations have never involved attacks upon mosques. By releasing such alleged ‘intelligence’ the police are stoking tensions amongst highly volatile elements within the Muslim population and generating fear where none should be. This is tantamount to inciting hatred against members of the EDL. The Leicester Mercury quotes the police report as follows:

Intelligence dated September 8, 2010, indicated that the EDL intend to come to Leicester and attack a mosque before marching into the Highfields area, which represents the highest resident population of the Muslim community.

This reflects previous intentions of EDL processions, such as that within Leicester, where actions were targeted to cause disruption to the Muslim community by provoking serious public disorder.

The police plan is to use these assertions as the basis to apply to the Home Office for a ban on the EDL protest, although as in Bradford last month they would be powerless to prevent a static demonstration from taking place so police overtime payments shouldn’t be too detrimentally affected. Nice money if you can get it on the back of stoking tensions in Leicester. Whilst on the subject of stoking tensions, UAF are planning a ‘counter-demonstration’ which will feature the usual lies about the EDL designed to try and recruit deluded doctrinaire Muslims into their Islamo-Marxist axis with the ultimate aim not of combating what they term ‘racism’, but of overthrowing the state through non-democratic means.

According to the UAF website, their meeting in Leicester on Thursday evening was attended by about 200 supporters who listened to a number of speakers trotting out the usual tired cliches of so-called ‘anti-racism’ in support of multiculturalism and Islam. The words of Leicester councillor Patrick Kitterick illustrate the type of combative leftist posturing so beloved of those whose comprehension of the complex reality of the social and political worlds around us is limited to slogans and formulaic Marxisant literature:

We’ve got to defend the city. We can’t let the EDL turn it upside down. October 9 will make us all stronger, not weaker – on Saturday we’ll defend the city from the EDL.

Unusually, Hope not Hate (another Communist controlled professional ‘anti-racist’ (sic) outfit headed by Gerry Gable) will be holding what it terms a ‘peace vigil’ on the evening preceding the protest! The leaderships of Hope not Hate and UAF fell out a number of years ago, so it is a surprise to see them both planning to campaign in Leicester in October.

The alarmist police report has already generated quotes from prominent talking heads within Leicester’s Muslim ‘community’, such as from Suleman Nagdie (Chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations) and Ibrahim Mogra (associate Imam at Evington Muslim Centre) denouncing the “planned attack”. Are these men really so misguided as to believe that the EDL would plan an attack on a mosque, or are they cynically using this phantom threat as a means to get the EDL protest banned so that they can continue unimpeded in their business of proselytising for Islam in Leicester?

Quite rightly, Guramit Singh the EDL organiser of the intended Leicester protest has rebutted the police claims re a planned mosque attack and has stated:

We are coming to Leicester to peacefully demonstrate and we denounce attacks on any mosques. We are here to fight militant Islam, not moderate Islam. The intelligence provided by the police is incorrect.

In a week during which six men have been arrested on a baseless charge of inciting 'racial hatred' for burning copies of the Qur'an in Gateshead, I wish good luck to Guramit and to all members and supporters of the EDL in making the Leicester demonstration one which is peaceful and successful despite police and leftist attempts to stifle free expression. May you continue to alert the public to the real threat to our way of life posed by an active and growing Islamism.