Category Archives: English Defence League

Councillor promotes far-right myth about York mosque dominating skyline

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The decision to approve a new mosque in York without debate by councillors has come under fire.

Independent Osbaldwick councillor Mark Warters has written to City of York Council planning chief Mike Slater and Hull Road councillors to express his dismay that a “significant change” to York’s historic skyline had been allowed “without the open, democratic scrutiny of a planning committee meeting”. He said many local residents had told him they felt let down that such a change had been agreed behind closed doors.

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Scottish Defence League flops in Dundee

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SDL Dundee demo (2)

The humiliation of the English Defence League in Walthamstow has attracted most of the attention, but another flop for “counterjihad movement” took place in Dundee on Saturday, where the EDL’s sister organisation the Scottish Defence League staged a protest, primarily against a so-called “mega mosque” on the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education campus, construction of which is due to start this month, providing 70 jobs for local people.

The SDL has a very low level of support in Scotland itself, and as Dundee trades council secretary Mike Arnott noted in a report for the Morning Star: “To enhance its minuscule numbers at demonstrations in Scotland the SDL also invites its unsavoury allies from the north of England along – the EDL and the North East and North West Infidels, whose reputations for thuggery are well known.”

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EDL humiliated as Walthamstow takes to the streets to stop them

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Walthamstow anti-EDL demonstration

The racists and fascists of the English Defence League (EDL) were comprehensively routed on Saturday. Thousands of anti-fascists blocked their march route and stopped their rally in Walthamstow, east London.

The EDL only managed to mobilise 200, mostly hardcore Nazis. The anti-fascist demonstration, in contrast, brought some 4,000 people together representing all the diversity of one of London’s most proudly multiracial areas.

“It’s been a brilliant day – we completely trashed them,” said Siobhan, a Waltham Forest resident. “We had a really united campaign that reached out to the whole community. We wanted to stop the EDL and that’s what we did.”

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Walthamstow gets ready to protest against EDL thugs

Posted on by Bob Pitt

We Are Waltham Forest flyerWith just a day to go before the racist English Defence League (EDL) tries to march in Waltham Forest, east London, anti-fascist activists in the local community are having a final push to build opposition.

“I don’t like it that a group of racists will be marching here tomorrow – no one needs or wants them,” Osman, a local market trader, told Socialist Worker. “But it has been really good to see people coming together to oppose them. Hopefully the EDL will be stopped.”

Mosques in Waltham Forest have been promoting the counter demonstration. The borough’s council of mosques has released a statement encouraging people join the We Are Waltham Forest demonstration.

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Two police officers to appear in court over false charges against anti-EDL protestor

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two police officers are accused of perverting the course of justice over an incident which happened during the English Defence League demonstration in Bolton town centre. The charges relate to an incident involving one of the Unite Against Fascism counter-protesters, Alan Clough, from Radcliffe, who was allegedly attacked by police.

Now police officers Robert Cantrell and Alan Glover have been summonsed to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on September 11. They have both been summonsed to face charges of perverting the course of justice.

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Yorkshire: £1.5m mosque to create jobs and act as community beacon – EDL not happy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

York mosque

A purpose-built mosque will promote religious integration and help to create jobs in Yorkshire by becoming a major community facility, according to a leading supporter of the project.

Shazad Hussain, who is overseeing the scheme to create a new mosque in York, said he hoped local material and labourers would be involved in the building work, at a time when many construction firms were struggling due to the slump caused by the global financial crisis.

The proposal for a £1.5m mosque has been backed by City of York Council, and the local Muslim community is raising funds to pay for the building costs. The mosque is due to be built in Bull Lane, York, after previous concerns over flooding at the site were addressed.

The project will see the existing mosque, which has been on the site for 27 years, replaced with a new building. The current facilities are struggling to cope with the growing numbers of people who are using them.

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Police refuse to apply for ban on Waltham Forest EDL march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-EDL campaigners Waltham Forest
Anti-EDL campaigners outside Waltham Forest Town Hall yesterday

Police have told the Guardian they have no intelligence to suggest that a controversial march by the far right English Defence League (EDL) this weekend will be violent or disrupt the community.

The extremist group, which describes itself as a movement against Islamic extremism but which critics say is racist, is set to protest in Walthamstow this Saturday (September 1) despite widespread opposition from residents.

A meeting of councillors, community leaders and police was held on Tuesday evening (August 28) to discuss the possibility of banning the march, but the Met has declined to apply to the government for such a move and the protest is still due to go ahead.

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Waltham Forest: community mobilises against EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

We Are Waltham Forest flyerThousands of people were set to take the streets to stop the racist English Defence League (EDL) in Waltham Forest, east London, this Saturday.

Determination to oppose the EDL has united people in the area – and left the racists running scared. The EDL had originally planned to march there on 18 August but postponed it.

Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, spoke to Socialist Worker. “The EDL moved the date because it is not confident marching through Waltham Forest,” he said.

The We Are Waltham Forest campaign, which was set up to stop the EDL, has widespread support. Trade unions, community groups, churches, local Labour councillors and local MP Stella Creasy pledged support for the counter demo.

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