This does show the misleading character of the police claim that the English Defence League would not be staging a march through Dewsbury but only a “static demonstration”.
Numbers at EDL events continue to decline, however. The police estimate for attendance at the Dewsbury protest is 450. Other observers say it was even less.
Update: See “Dewsbury says no to EDL”, UAF news report, 1 July 2012
Spen MP Mike Wood is calling for a far-Right protest in Dewsbury tomorrow to be called off. He fears the protest could spark trouble which might spill over into nearby areas. And parents in parts of Heckmondwike are being warned of possible trouble.
The English Defence League plans to protest between 1pm and 3pm in Dewsbury.
Mr Wood, MP for Batley and Spen, has told police that previous EDL demonstrations have led to crime and disorder spilling into neighbouring towns. In a letter to chief constable Sir Norman Bettison he says: “Towns in the Spen Valley have suffered disorder and crime during and after EDL events.”
The organiser of a planned march of the controversial English Defence League has defended the group’s decision to stage a protest in Bristol.
Mickey Bayliss said the group was committed to a peaceful demonstration against what he claimed was the “Islamification of Bristol”.
The 48-year-old farmer, from Upton Cheyney, near Bitton, stressed that the group had no intention of marching through St Paul’s and told the Post he had been working closely with the police and the council to ensure a trouble-free protest.
He also dismissed claims that marching on the day of a gay pride festival in the city was a provocative move. “We were given this day by the council, as initially the march clashed with the harbour festival,” said the Bedminster-born activist. The last thing we want to do as an organisation is cause any trouble.”
Mr Bayliss denied accusations that the EDL preached fear and hate, claiming instead that it was a tolerant organisation. He said: “Unfortunately we are being painted as a racist group, but we are clearly not.”
Mr Bayliss said the EDL was not targeting Bristol in particular, although he did express concerns about the city. He said: “There’s been a few incidents involving Islamic centres springing up around the city and also more mosques. We are against the extreme Islamist terrorism and Sharia law and people who preach hate and terror. We are also against the Islamification of Bristol.”
The 2001 census found that Muslims made up 2% of the population of Bristol, while Christians accounted for 62%, and 93% of the population was white. If the city is now under serious threat of “Islamification” you can only conclude that the Muslim community must have grown at a quite staggering rate over the past decade.
As for Mickey Bayliss’s claim to oppose racism, here is an example of his sense of humour:
Today the English Defence League has posted a number of comments and links on its Facebook page to justify the demonstration in Dewsbury tomorrow and to educate its members about the threat posed by Islam. They’re worth checking out if you require confirmation that the EDL is nothing more than a mob of stupid, ignorant, violent bigots.
Over at Harry’s Place Hasan Afzal of British Muslims for Israel is crowing over the success of their campaign to secure the cancellation of next month’s “Month of Mercy” conference at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London organised by the Al Muntada Trust.
As we have previously noted, the “call to action” issued by Harry’s Place received an enthusiastic response from the racist thugs of the English Defence League and the associated hooligan group Casuals United.
Unsurprisingly, both the EDL and Casuals United share HP’s glee over the cancellation.
English Defence League joins the neo-Nazis of the National Front in Newcastle on 4 June
A thug has admitted throwing a firecracker during fierce clashes after English Defence League supporters stormed an anti-Jubilee rally.
Anthony Crawford hurled a firecracker into a group of demonstrators at Greys Monument in Newcastle on June 4, 2012. The 22-year-old, of Elmway, Chester-le-Street, Durham, pleaded guilty to the offences at Newcastle Magistrates Court on Thursday, June 28.
An 18-year-old man was taken to Newcastle Freeman Hospital for treatment to burns suffered when the explosive hit his face and landed in his hood.
An MP has called for a march through Bristol by the English Defence League to be banned.
The controversial protest group will congregate in Castle Park on July 14, the same day as Bristol Pride’s We Are: Proud lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender event takes place on College Green.
A heavy police presence is guaranteed on the day, with up to 700 officers expected to be on duty to police the events, in an operation costing as much as £1 million.
But Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy has called for the EDL to be barred from marching that day, saying she fears for public safety. She has written to the city council and Avon and Somerset police saying she is “not satisfied” public order will be maintained after the march.
MPs, trade unionists, campaigners and community groups have called for a Celebration of Unity rally in Dewsbury on Saturday 30 June.
The call comes in response to plans by the racist thugs of the English Defence League (EDL) to “demonstrate” in the city on that Saturday.
The Unity campaign has called for people to gather for a peaceful anti-racist event.
Assemble 11am, junction of Foundry Street and Market Place, Dewsbury.
Please note: The assembly time has been brought forward from 1pm.
Where does the English Defence League get its ideological inspiration from? Well, obviously from the likes of Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, with whom the EDL is jointly organising the launch of a “worldwide counter-jihad alliance” in Stockholm in August.
However, the international counterjihad movement is not the only source of inspiration for the EDL. They also take their cue from the terrorism-supporting Zionist blog Harry’s Place, as is shown by their enthusiastic response to a “call to action” against a so-called “jihadist conference” in London next month, posted at HP by Hasan Afzal of British Muslims for Israel.
EDL thugs Bernard Holmes, David Wilson, Jason Smith, David Garratt and Leonard Hawley
An English Defence League mob which descended on an East Lancashire town for a flash mob protest have been branded “a pack of wild animals”. Five of the gang have today been jailed for their parts in the brawl.
One Asian teenager was punched and kicked during the disturbance last July and another Asian man was run over as around 25 EDL supporters rolled into Brierfield last July.