Category Archives: UK

Police appeal to trace men after violence at Walsall town centre EDL protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Walsall protest wanted

Police want to speak to these 10 men after violence erupted on the streets of Walsall during a protest by the English Defence League.

Officers have spent hours trawling through CCTV footage of the disorder, which broke out in the town centre on September 29 last year.

It comes after police carried out early morning raids yesterday, arresting eight people on suspicion of public order offences. Homes in Walsall, Brownhills, West Bromwich, Tipton and Hateley Heath were all targeted. Six men have been charged with violent disorder and two have been bailed pending further inquiries.

Express & Star, 27 March 2013

Man photographed grinning and holding piece of wood moments before mosque attack was merely smiling happily at his friends, claims defence counsel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man photographed holding a piece of wood moments before Kingston Mosque was attacked was grinning at his friends not plotting violence, his defence counsel has said.

Alfie Wallace was snapped holding a piece of wood in East Road, where the mosque is, while another unidentified man stood behind him wielding a stick, Kingston Crown Court heard. He was caught on the mobile phone of co-defendant David Morris before the attack on November 21, 2010.

Mr Wallace’s defence counsel Eve Macatonia said: “The picture the Crown say is so sinister. Have a look at his face. He is smiling.”

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Seven held following raids in Walsall and Sandwell over EDL protest violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL arrest Walsall

Police swooped on homes across the Black Country today, including two addresses in Walsall, to arrest people suspected of violent disorder during a protest in the town by the EDL.

Seven men aged between 17 and 59 were arrested during the early morning raids. Police also seized items of clothing. It comes after violence erupted in Walsall town centre on September 29 during the English Defence League demonstration.

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‘A mega mosque in a suburb that was 90 per cent white 30 years ago’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

With the assistance of self-styled “Left-leaning Hampstead liberal” David Goodhart, the Daily Mail continues its anti-migrant, “Islamisation of Britain” propaganda with an attack on the Ahmadiyya movement’s Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden.

Update:  See also “‘Merton’s not white anymore’, moans former liberal in the Daily Mail”, Indigo Jo Blogs, 26 March 2013

Newham People’s Alliance protestors return to Town Hall

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Newham People's Alliance demo March 2013

Protestors braved freezing weather conditions at the weekend to stage a repeat demonstration outside Newham Town Hall against council decisions surrounding the site of a controversial application for a 9,000-capacity mosque.

Pressure group the Newham People’s Alliance organised a second protest on Barking Road against Newham Council’s decision to take legal action to clear the Riverine Centre site in West Ham currently used to house the London Markaz, a temporary hub for up to 3,000 Muslim worshippers.

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The BNP’s new poster boy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jack Buckby with Nick Griffin (2)“British nationalism has got itself a brand new face. Jack Buckby isn’t exactly the boy next door, but he could be the hipster sitting at his laptop next to you in Starbucks (‘working on a novel’ – yeah, right). Young, educated, articulate, John Lennon glasses, excessive facial hair, ironic satchel: the only unusual things about him are a) his obsession with ‘Muslim paedos’ and b) that he travels everywhere with a bouncer.”

Tim Stanley examines the political ideology of Jack Buckby, Liverpool University student, British National Party activist and enthusiastic advocate of “culturalism”.

Daily Telegraph, 22 March 2013

Halal hysteria comes to Chingford

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Larkswood Primary halal protest

Parents have reacted with outrage over plans to start serving only Halal meat to school pupils.

Management at Larkswood Primary in New Road, Chingford, will stop providing meat slaughtered using ‘standard’ methods and replace it with food which is prepared according to the rituals of Islam from mid-April.

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Posted in UK

Leicester scout hut at centre of religion protests to reopen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Thurnby Lodge petition

A former scout hut which was the focus of protests over plans to turn it into an Islamic centre is to reopen.

Last year the As-Salaam Trust said it wanted to take over the building in Thurnby Lodge, Leicester, after using it for prayer meetings for some months.

A residents group organised a series of protests and a petition, calling for it to be used for the wider community.

But the residents group has been given a rent-free lease of the hut and the As-Salaam Trust will use a nearby site.

Several protests, some attracting hundreds of people and requiring a significant police presence, were held over the issue.

The residents have refitted the building with donated goods since January, when the two-and-a-half-year rent-free lease was agreed.

Originally called the Forgotten Estates, the group is now known as the 55th Community Association, named after the old scout group.

BBC News, 22 March 2013

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Daily Mail links Islam to mass murder

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daily Mail Dark Knight killer headline

Earlier this week the Daily Mail published a story headlined “Dark Knight killer James Holmes ‘is now a Muslim who prays five times a day'”. The report began:

“James Holmes, the gunman behind the Dark Knight massacre in Colorado last July, has reportedly turned Muslim and prays five times a day. The killer showed off a lengthy, thick beard during a court appearance earlier this month, and a prison source has claimed it is a symbol of his new-found faith. The source said Holmes has turned to Islam as a way of justifying his horrific murder spree in an Aurora, Colorado cinema on July 20 which left 12 people dead and 58 people wounded.”

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Far right ‘fights Islamic bigotry against women’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENR Crayford mosque protest adWhen it comes to the ideology of Islamophobia, fascists invent nothing new – they just take their inspiration from the mainstream media. I doubt most of them had even heard of sharia law or halal slaughter until the right-wing press decided to create moral panics over these issues. In embracing received anti-Muslim prejudice, the one contribution the racist far right does make is to give it an additional thuggish twist.

So, with the likes of the Daily Mail having helped to stir up controversy over so-called “gender segregation” at iERA’s recent public meeting at University College London, it was only a matter of time before far-right racists adopted this as their cause.

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