Police are out in force after the English Defence League said it would hold a “meet and greet”. The event, which will also include leafleting, is due to start at 1.30pm in Kingston town centre.
A group of about 15 anti-fascist campaigners from Kingston and south-west London are handing out leaflets of their own.
Last November about 60 people marched from Hampton Wick to Kingston in a protest against poppy burning. A small group of men attacked Kingston mosque later the same day.
The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has given the Metropolitan Police Commissioner until Monday to seek a Home Office ban on the English Defence League marching through London’s East End on September 3. Lutfur Rahman has thrown the gauntlet down and told the commissioner he will go to court unless an application is made.
“I will instruct lawyers on Monday to go to the High Court and seek injunctive relief if the Met Police fail to act,” he told a Town Hall news conference this-afternoon. “We will not let the EDL or any other bunch of extremists divide our community. The EDL just wants images of our young people fighting on the streets to show that multi-cultural Britain doesn’t work – but we stand united in the East End against hatred and Racism. The authorities must act to ban the EDL.”
He is challenging Home Secretary Theresa May to use her powers to stop the EDL coming to Whitechapel on September 3 on the grounds of public safety. He was backed at the news conference in his call for a ban by community and religious leaders who have come together under the United East End alliance.
“Fear and anxiety grows every day that passes without action from the police of Home Secretary,” the mayor added. “If no action is taken, we have no option but to protect our residents and take the police and Home Secretary to court.”
Tower Hamlets council’s legal department has written to the Acting Commissioner to demand they apply to the Home Secretary to ban the march under the Public Order Act, in the light of last week’s London riots. Legal proceedings will begin, they warn, if there is no response by Monday or if the response is not in favour of a ban.
A member of the English Defence League has admitted taking part in a spray paint attack on a mosque. Charlotte Davies, 19, will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage.
She travelled from her home in Irving Path, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to Durham Crown Court where she indicated she admitted her part in the graffiti attack in November. The Nasir Mosque in Hartlepool, a shop and a guest house were sprayed.
The plea was not formally entered although the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be carried out and she will be sentenced in October.
Anthony Smith, 24, of Neptune Way, Easington Colliery, County Durham, and Steven Vasey, 32, of Prior’s Grange, Pittington, County Durham, are accused of the same offence and they will enter pleas next Friday.
A member of a far-right group threatened to burn down mosques during a drunken rant in Halifax town centre, a court heard.
Andrew Ossitt, 40, from Newquay, came to Halifax on April 2, along with around 60 other English Defence League protesters. He was part of a group who came into town after a demonstration in Blackburn. They congregated outside the Courtyard pub, Wards End, Halifax.
Another man, Dennis Farrell, 26, of High Lees Road, Halifax, also appeared at Calderdale Magistrates’ Court. He will face trial on November 3 after denying two charges of using threatening words and racially or religiously aggravated harassment.
Scores of police went to the pub at 6pm and marched the group back to the train station.
Vanessa Schofield, prosecuting, said: “Officers’ attention was drawn to Andrew Ossitt. He was walking along, slightly behind the group. He raised both arms in the air and shouted, ‘These are our streets, Muslims off the streets’.”
Ossitt admitted using threatening words to cause harassment alarm or distress and a second charge of religiously aggravated harassment and was fined £100.
Mohammed Farooq, representing Ossitt, told the court although he joined in with chanting, he was not an instigator. He said: “At no point was it his intention to be part of any demonstration outside the pub. A few members began chanting, a few more joined in. Due to him being in drink at the time he began to chant ‘You burn the poppies, and we will burn the mosques’.
“Andrew Ossitt says at the time of making these remarks he did not feel he was going to cause anyone any alarm, harassment or distress. With hindsight he said had there been members of the Muslim community there, they would have done.”
His solicitor said Ossitt felt “aggrieved” at being prosecuted. “He has been singled out from that demonstration and used as a scapegoat here in court. He has said there should be 60 or so EDL stood next to him,” said Mr Farooq. He said Ossitt has not attended any English Defence League meetings since April.
As well as the £100 fine, chairwoman Anthea Atkinson told Ossitt to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. “Our aim is to punish you, which we believe this will do. If this offence had not been religiously aggreviated, you would have paid £30 but it has been increased to reflect the religious aggreviation,” she said.
A far right group will not be allowed to march in Edinburgh on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist atrocity.
The Scottish Defence League wanted to rally in the capital’s east end. However, Edinburgh City Council backed opponents who said the gathering would be a threat to public safety.
The Scottish Defence League (SDL) is an offshoot of the English Defence League which has been associated with trouble at gatherings south of the border. That group was cited by Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik as an organisation he admired.
About 50 SDL supporters held a rally in Edinburgh last year. They were outnumbered by 2,000 counter protesters marching under the banner of Scotland United.
The SDL notified the council they intended to march from near the American Embassy to the east end of Princes Street on 10 September.
The decision to turn down the proposal was made by members of the council’s licensing committee on Friday over fears of public disorder.
Update: See also the Scotsman, 20 August 2011
A controversial far-right group is set to win permission to stage a demo in Edinburgh after police chiefs said they had no objections to the Scottish Defence League being allowed to stage a parade – despite protests from politicians, trade unions and anti-racism organisations.
Critics believe the group has deliberately chosen the date to inflame racial hatred and capitalise on recent publicity linking its sister group, the English Defence League, with Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik.
The SDL has given Edinburgh City Council, which will rule on the application tomorrow, “freedom of speech” as the main reason for holding the event, which it expects to attract around 200 supporters.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill wants the protest banned, claiming the group is known to espouse “both racist and homophobic views” and expressing concern the march could pose a threat to public safety. Local MSPS are also among those against the application.
Lothian and Borders Police has warned the local authority to consider the group’s proposed demo “in the context” of the recent riots that flared across several English cities.
But it has effectively given the green light to the march, which will include a rally beside the statue of the Duke of Wellington, despite admitting the group’s views are “controversial” and that a sizeable “opposition rally” is likely to be held.
Superintendent David Carradice has told the council he is confident the force can handle a demo by the SDL and any planned counter-demonstration, insisting it is used to catering for groups that want to “exercise their right to protest”.
He said: “Whilst there can be no guarantees there will be no disruption to the daily business of the community, we are confident that, with the assistance of the council, an operation can be put into place to minimise such and thereby allow the SDL rally to go ahead and cater for an opposition rally too.”
Update: See “Council to decide whether far-right group march through Edinburgh”, STV, 19 August 2011
We need calm on the streets of London, not this EDL march
The far-right English Defence League proposes to march in Tower Hamlets on September 3rd.
I want to set out here why I am supporting a ban on this march.
The EDL use religious hatred in a way that stirs up racial hatred. Their activities have often led to violence and physical intimidation.
There are many who have put forward civil liberties arguments for allowing the far right to demonstrate, however unpalatable their views may be. The context of this EDL march is now radically different following the riots and disturbances we have seen on our streets. We need to put good community relations and peace on the streets before division and extremism.
As Mayor my case to the Home Secretary would be this: the last thing we need in the uneasy aftermath of the riots is a march through one of London’s most diverse areas by far right provocateurs intent on stirring up division. We need calm and peace on our streets, not the threat of further street violence. It should be obvious that an EDL march in East London could be extremely dangerous.
We should be putting Londoners first, not the rights of the EDL to intimidate people.
It is right to be tough on those who have broken the law in the past few weeks. Equally, we cannot allow the extreme right to march with impunity into an area with the express intent of stirring up division. Not least because so many EDL actions have led to violent confrontation.
The EDL’s aim is to divide people, incite religious hatred as a means to create racial division, and turn people against each other.
In the past few weeks I have joined with politicians and community leaders from a range of backgrounds to call on the Home Secretary that this march to be banned. It is a welcome step to see such unity. Unity across party labels, faiths and backgrounds is essential opposing the dangerous threat of far-right violence.
In the aftermath of the massacre in Norway there was a clear case for halting the EDL demonstration in East London. Alleged links subsequently emerged between the EDL and Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian who murdered scores of people in Norway.
Now, in the context of the riots and disorder on our street, there is a compelling case that such a march should not be permitted to go ahead. For the sake of order and peace on our streets and preserving calm it would be irresponsible to let it happen.
The Home Secretary must act to ensure that the EDL is not able to bring its tour of hate to the streets of East London on September 3rd.
A Tyneside charity is widening efforts to rid North East schools of racism, despite suffering budget cuts of more than £80,000.
Show Racism the Red Card chief executive Ged Grebby criticised the “growing influence” of the English Defence League in the region’s schools and claimed a “rise in Islamophobia” and the increased support for far right organisations threatened to exploit youngsters and spread through classrooms.
Last night he said that his charity – which was originally formed in Newcastle in 1996 with the aim of booting racism out of professional and grassroots football – had plans to grow its operations and tackle the issue.
But deep Government cuts and a reduction in local council spending has meant the charity has seen more than £80,000 disappear from its spending purse. Mr Grebby said the charity had been forced to draw on reserves in an effort to maintain its fight against racism.
He said: “The issues have become much more complex than 15 years ago, especially with the rise of Islamophobia and the EDL. The EDL have latched on to this and have exploited the issue and it is a huge issue.” He added: “Public sector cuts have had an impact on all charities and although we have made a loss this year, the success of previous years has meant we were able to use some of our reserve funds.”
See also “Anti-racism charity ups efforts to combat EDL”, TES, 12 August 2012
Taxpayers were left with a £172,000 bill for policing a 40-minute demonstration by the English Defence League, the YEP can reveal.
Concerns have been raised about the strain on the public purse following the rally in Dewsbury in June. It was the fifth demonstration in West Yorkshire since the EDL’s formation in 2009. A protest in Leeds in October 2009 cost £131,000 to police.
Kirklees Council leader Mehboob Khan said: “Forty minutes – that’s £4,300 a minute for policing. Every citizen has the right for their voice to be heard, but the EDL need to be aware that their demonstrations are taking money from essential frontline services at a time when the country is struggling. With £172,000 we could have kept two libraries open for a year.”