BBC News and the Leicester Mercury report on the latest developments over the plan to convert a disused scout hut into an Islamic community centre.
Category Archives: Far right racists
Netherlands ‘halal homes’ ignite religious row
BBC News reports on the controversy stirred up by Wilders’ PVV.
France asks European Parliament to lift Le Pen immunity
French authorities have asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of far-right leader Marine Le Pen so she can be prosecuted for comparing Islamic prayers to the Nazi occupation, officials said Monday.
Justice ministry spokesman Pierre Rance told AFP the request was sent to European Parliament President Martin Schulz late last month. A source close to the matter said the request was related to an ongoing judicial probe into remarks made by Le Pen in a speech to supporters of her Front National party in December 2010.
EDL’s planned march in Slough condemned
Far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) is planning a demonstration in Slough early in the New Year. A website, aiming to expose and counter the EDL, says the group is planning four marches – in Slough, Cambridge, Manchester and Newcastle. The anonymous website founder claims the information was leaked to him by an EDL member.
Another fascist protest against Sunderland mosque
Protestors again gathered at the site of a planned mosque in Millfield.
A proposal to convert a former council depot into a mosque has caused controversy since the decision was accepted in January. And on Saturday members from the National Patriotic Front turned up to the site with signs, including some that read “no more mosques.”
Treasurer Paul Stephenson said: “We are a Christian country, we don’t want to bring their ideas and practices into our country.” Chairman Robert Patten added: “We come here every month and we are going to keep coming back until there is something done about this. We want to stop the spread of Islam as much as we can.”
Bradford EDL men face jail
It is no surprise that where the EDL go racist violence follows soon after.
Two Bradford EDL activists have admitted taking part in violence following a protest in West Yorkshire earlier this year.
Warning to Teesside teachers as BNP leaflet campaign targets schools
Headteachers on Teesside are being warned about a leaflet campaign by the British National Party targeting schools.
Cleveland Police has branded the content of the BNP leaflets as “provocative and detrimental to good community relations”. The force has consulted with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding any potential offences and is awaiting their advice.
Teachers on Teesside are being called on to be vigilant about any possible BNP political activity seeking to engage young people.
Former EDL youth leader in court for breach of football ban
A leading member of the English Defence League banned from every football ground in the country has been spotted heading for Arsenal matches, the Old Bailey heard.
Joel Titus, 21, was banned from football after he led a mass brawl outside Liverpool Street station more than two years ago. At that time he led Brentford fans in a charge on rival Leyton Orient supporters.
But he has dodged the ban by switching allegiance to Arsenal and joining fellow hooligans in pubs, stations and on supporters coaches, the court was told. The leader of the youth wing of the EDL has also moved to Highbury to be closer to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
When he was arrested during one clash he was found with a hard-knuckle Kevlar glove – the same type of weapon he used during the earlier Liverpool Street fight.
Police are now applying for his football banning order to be extended to prevent a repeat of his behaviour. Judge Timothy Pontius will pass sentence today.
Mosque application rejected in heated meeting
Planning permission for a mosque in Worcester Park was unanimously turned down by councillors after a lively meeting last night.
Councillors said the proposed mosque in Green Road would bring too much traffic to the area and voted to refuse planning permission after hearing arguments from concerned neighbours and from the project’s backers.
Around 300 people attended the meeting, as well as several police officers, and there were loud cheers as the councillors voted. During the meeting the chairman had to ask the audience to calm down on several occasions as speakers were interrupted by loud heckling.
Christmas trees, Islam and right wing populism: a Danish Christmas story
Susi Meret shows how a housing association’s decision not to buy a Christmas tree this year was exploited by the far-right Danish People’s Party with the assistance of the mainstream media. Conservative and liberal figures helped to reinforce the narrative that Danish culture is under attack from Muslims.
“The most worrying aspect of this controversy was the total lack of response from the other side…”, Meret writes. “Those who violently oppose non-western immigration could make their point – extensively. And the voices that should have contradicted them were nowhere to be heard.”