BNP member Michael Coleman spared jail term

Michael Coleman BNPA British National Party member and former Stoke-on-Trent councillor has received a suspended jail sentence for using racist language online.

Michael Coleman, 45, of Caverswall Road, Weston Coyney, had denied two counts of racially aggravated harassment. The charges related to racist language used in two articles on his website between 8 August 2011 and 8 March 2012.

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Why Conway Hall was right to ban ‘Tommy Robinson’

The English Defence League’s leader Stephen Lennon (“Tommy Robinson”) was due to speak at a meeting in London’s Conway Hall next week on the subject “Islam and Islamophobia: which is a threat to Britain?” Unfortunately for “Tommy”, he has been deprived of the opportunity to promote his hate-filled views about Muslims because the Conway Hall management cancelled the booking after complaints by Unite Against FascismSearchlight and other concerned parties.

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New West Ham mosque will ‘deal with needs of Newham residents’

NRAP Riverine Centre designWest Ham is in need of a new mosque because of a lack of worshipping space for Muslims, religious leaders say. Tabilighi Jama’at, the Islamic group hoping to build a new facility in Canning Road, said it acted on a comprehensive study of the borough before submitting its plans.

The controversial proposals have finally been validated by Newham Council planners. The 6.3 hectare site will contain a mosque that is expected to treble the 2 to 3,000 of worshippers currently able to attend the temporary site every week. The group has also promised to include a library, dining hall, and sports pitches and a visitors’ centre, all for the community.

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Anti-fascist protesters We Are Waltham Forest organise meeting ahead of planned EDL march

An anti-fascist protest group is due to hold a public meeting ahead of a proposed march by the English Defence League (EDL) in Walthamstow.

We Are Waltham Forest (WAWF) will discuss plans to oppose the march planned for October 27 after 3,000 people successfully diverted a previous EDL march of up to 300 people earlier this month.

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EDL supporter in court over anti-Muslim Facebook rants

Kenneth HoldenA former soldier wrote anti-Islamic comments on his Facebook page he started supporting the English Defence League (EDL).

Kenneth Holden, 30, was arrested after police were alerted to two updates he posted on his personal page on the social network site, abusing Muslims.

Holden, of Winskell Road, South Shields, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending an offensive message by a public communication network at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

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Racist grandmother Margaret Walker gets lifetime Asbo for offensive letters

A Hampshire grandmother has today been handed a lifetime ASBO for a “racist” and “frightening” poison pen campaign.

Margaret Walker, 73, from Walnut Drive, Hill Head, has been ordered by magistrates to stop sending “foul” and “abusive” letters. She has also been ordered to sign every piece of post she sends and supply a return address.

The order came after Walker carried out a five-year campaign of hate – sending around 500 racist letters all around the country.

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Yougov poll finds even more hostility towards Islam in UK than in US

An overwhelming majority of Republican voters in the United States regard the west and Islam as being embroiled in “a fundamental conflict which only one side can win”, according to new YouGov polling seen exclusively by the Guardian.

As the UN general assembly was convening in New York, with an agenda including the ongoing conflict in Syria, the Iranian nuclear question and the Arab uprisings, the pollsters asked both American and British voters about their attitudes to the Muslim world.

Opinion was reasonably evenly split on both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed somewhat more tolerant in the United States. Overall, Americans rejected the view of a fundamental clash of cultures that can only have one winner – only 39% adopted this view, against 47% who believe that “it is possible for the west and Muslims to coexist in peace”. In Britain, by contrast, the respective figures were 43% and 41%, suggesting that British opinion towards Islam is somewhat more hostile overall.

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Walsall Labour Party backs rally against EDL

Walsall Labour Party is giving its full support to a peaceful demonstration celebrating community strength and tolerance being held in Gallery Square on Saturday at 11am.

The “We are Walsall” rally is being held to counter the racism of the English Defence League who are bussing in people from across the country to incite hatred of the town’s Muslim community.

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