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.