Peter Davies, the mayor of Doncaster, has resigned from the English Democrats claiming there has been a big influx of new members joining from the British National Party.
Mr Davies, who was elected to the post in 2009, had planned to stand for a second term at May’s local elections. He will now continue in office as an independent until the poll.
Party chairman Robin Tilbrook said he was saddened at the development but denied the party had been infiltrated.
Community groups from both sides of the border are preparing to unite in the face of provocation from a right-wing pressure group.
Bodies including the transport union RMT, the Berwick upon Tweed and District Trades Union Council and Unite Against Fascism have banded together to form the Berwick & Borders Anti Fascist Alliance.
The move comes ahead of a protest by the Scottish Defence League (Borders Division) scheduled to take place in Berwick on Saturday, February 16.
A controversial British lawyer spoke in Ottawa despite protest from groups who oppose his opinion, which is that mosques should not be built in non-Muslim areas.
Gavin Boby spoke in front of 40 people at the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library Monday evening as protesters stood outside the branch at the corner of Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue West.
Boby, who is also an activist, is known for using zoning regulations to try to stop mosques from opening in areas he considers “non-Muslim.”
He told the CBC’s Simon Gardner before the speech he does not want views of Islam to dictate certain neighbourhoods. “Increasingly what we are seeing now is self-declared Muslim areas where you get Muslim patrols saying you can’t walk a dog, wear a skirt,” he said.
Fascists protesting in Millfield against plan for new mosque
A project that aims to unite communities across Sunderland has launched in the City.
‘Sunderland Together’ was formed as a response to a series of violent protests at the site of a new mosque on St Marks Road in Millfield, which saw far-right groups clash with anti-fascists and members of the Muslim community.
The newly established organisation hopes to provide an alternative to extremism with the aim of tackling discrimination and building understanding and tolerance.
The project launch, attended by members of the public, trade unions, politicians and representatives from faith communities, has received the backing of the public sector trade union UNISON.
Helen Coomer, Regional Organiser, UNISON, said: “Sunderland Together is about recognising the value of diversity and inclusivity and creating a city that is free from bigotry and prejudice.”
Sky Tyne and Wear, 3 February 2013
Via ENGAGE
Two men and a woman have appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after bacon was allegedly thrown at and stuck to the Central Mosque.
Douglas Cruikshank, 37, Chelsea Lambie, 17, and Wayne Stilwel, 24, were charged with a racially prejudiced offence. All three, who are from the Lothian and Borders area, made a brief appearance, separately in private, before Sheriff James Scott today.
No plea or declaration was made on their behalf and their cases were continued for further inquiry. All were released on bail with the special condition that they do not go within 100 metres of any mosque.
It is alleged the Central Mosque, in Potterrow, had bacon thrown at it and stuck to certain parts of the building on January 31.
Via ENGAGE
Vandals have targeted a French mosque in a graffiti attack, tagging the worship centre with swastikas and anti-Islam slogans, officials said Sunday.
The attack was discovered by worshippers arriving for morning prayer at the mosque in Ozoir-La-Ferrière, a small town 35 kilometres (20 miles) east of Paris.
OTTAWA — A Canadian Muslim organization wants the Ottawa Public Library to cancel a speech by a controversial British lawyer who advocates legal tactics to block the construction of new mosques in the U.K.
Self-proclaimed “mosquebuster” Gavin Boby is scheduled to speak at the library on Monday night, the first stop on a Canadian speaking tour that will also take him to Montreal and Toronto.
Boby is the founder of an organization called Law and Freedom Foundation, which he says is devoted to “resisting the tide of Islam” by using the municipal planning process to oppose the building of mosques.
Despite being served with a court injunction banning them from going within 500 metres of Abu Qatada’s family home, on Saturday the English National Resistance went ahead with what they called a “peaceful, responsible and effective small scale demonstration” just outside the exclusion zone.
It was addressed by Paul Golding of Britain First, Paul Pitt of the South East Alliance, former leading EDL activist Tony Curtis and Dave Smeeton of March For England.
The ENR states that 40 “patriots” turned up for the protest. Now, I know the far right aren’t generally the brightest of people, but if you’re going to exaggerate the size of a demonstration, it doesn’t require much intelligence to work out that it’s not a good idea to post photographs on Facebook which show the actual attendance to be little more than half the figure you’re claiming.
White supremacists are urging Australian “patriots” to gather at public meetings by the controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders, ready for trouble and a no-holds barred fight.
Tensions have been mounting over the impending visit of the far right-wing politician who has been accused of Islamophobia and racism.
One group, Australian New Nation, has been encouraging followers to react to any threat or sign of violence from Muslim protesters who might attend.
On its website, the group has posted an audio from “Radio Free Australia, the voice of white revolution in Australia” warning them to “expect an Islamic rent-a-crowd outside screaming and foaming at the mouth like the evil bastards they are”.
“We encourage all patriots to exercise their legal right of self defence if any ragheads try to prevent them accessing the venue, or threaten, or use violence against their person once they try to strike the first blow, everything that follows is self defence on your part,” it said.
The vitriolic broadcast, which lasts almost 10 minutes, goes on to say, “go . . . and be prepared to defend yourself and if they take a swing at you, they push at you, they spit on you, don’t hold back. You have a legal right of self defence do what should be done to this rag-head camel f— . . . Islamic filth who have no place in civilised society.
Social media sites protesting against Mr Wilders’s visits to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have also been the target of hate messages.
You may recall that Britain First, a far-right groupuscule headed by former BNPers Jim Dowson and Paul Golding, organised a unity meeting in Dartford last month to discuss plans for a new anti-Islam street protest movement to replace the declining and fragmenting English Defence League.
The protest movement has now been formally launched. It’s called the English National Resistance and describes itself as a “new disciplined organisation that will mobilise patriotic activists against any attack on our English culture, rights and heritage”.
As is the way with such things, the English National Resistance presents itself as a far-right unity initiative, claiming to have brought together “a multitude of different existing patriotic groups”. So far, however, it would appear to be little more than a Britain First front organisation.
The ENR’s first event is scheduled for tomorrow, 2 February, with a planned march through Stanmore to the house of Abu Qatada. Whether it will in fact take place is as yet unclear, as Qatada’s lawyers have applied to the High Court for an injunction to prevent the demonstration going ahead.
Given that the protest is likely to attract a derisory number of participants, the BF/ENR leaders are probably hoping that the injunction is granted. That way they can milk the situation for the maximum publicity – High Court sides with Muslim terrorist and deprives decent British patriots of right to free speech, you know the sort of thing – while avoiding the public exposure of the minuscule forces they actually represent.