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EDL Protest Opposed by Unite Against Fascism – 2014

EDL Protest Opposed by Unite Against Fascism: Eleven years ago on Saturday 20th September 2014 Unite Against Fascism held a protest against a march and rally by the English Defence League in Whitehall. The whole event was on a very much smaller scale than last Saturday and I was able to move fairly freely between the two groups and photograph both groups.

In 2014 there were only a few hundred people in each of the two groups, with probably twice as many EDL as UAF, and more police who kept them apart, although the two protest pens on Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street where they gathered were less than a hundred yards apart.

The EDL were protesting “against government inaction on child sexual exploitation, immigration, returning jihadis, FGM, Halal food, Imams, Islamic Schools, Shariah courts, the burkha etc” and in my account on My London Diary I gave more detail on their complaints.

The EDL then marched to to Trafalgar Square for a rally. As I commented, “The atmosphere here was rather friendlier than at some previous EDL protests, and the press were able to walk freely among the gathering crowd, many of whom posed for photographs.”

I also reported accurately on the behaviour of the protesters – including a chant of “Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah”. As often at EDL protests some did point and shout at me, mistaking me for ‘Searchlight’ photographer David Hoffman – and I was able to correct some of them and we had a polite conversation.

After waiting for a couple of coaches that had been stopped by police on their way into London the EDL lined up for a march down Whitehall back the the pen opposite Downing Street where they held a rally.

Taking photographs at the rally became much more difficult, with people objecting to being photographed – and some complaining to the police, who told them we had a right to take photographs on the public street. There was a lot of angry shouting of insults at photographers and people trying to block our view, turning their backs and moving in our way, though police prevented any actual violence. But some clearly posed for the photographers.

The organisers then made our job more difficult, moving large banners to try and block our view of the speakers. After a while I got fed up and returned to photograph at the counter-protest. Here, although people were shouting angrily at the EDL, there was a very different atmosphere, with none of the hate towards photographers of the EDL, people welcoming being photographed showing their opposition.

Probably last Saturday there were probably not that many more hardcore Nazis, racists and Islamophobes among the many thousands marching in the ‘Defend The Kingdom’ march. Unfortunately many more have been mobilised by years of anti-immigrant propaganda by both major parties as well as by the incessant publicity given to Farage by our mass media, particularly the BBC, as well as the social media lies of Tommy Robinson and others.

We’ve seen the consistent abuse of language – there are no ‘illegal immigrants’ arriving our beaches, they are asylum seekers, refugees and migrants – some of whom may later become illegal, but the great majority are found to have a legal claim.

*An EDL steward holds his hands up in front of a camera lens*

There is no ‘flood’ of migrants – Britain takes far fewer than many other European countries – and certainly a very small number compared to countries closer to the conflicts which are driving migration.

*I went back to photographing the UAF counter-protest*

And so on. Both Tory and Labour governments have stirred up hatred with hostile policies trying to outflank the right, while neither has provided humane and efficient systems for dealing with migration. Labour does at least say they are trying to shake up the Home Office, though so far with little apparent effect.

And Labour doesn’t look good. In the recent legal case a temporary injunction was granted against extradition of a man to France, when Home Office officials admitted his case had not been sufficiently considered. Presumably the decision to try and deport him immediately was simply taken on political grounds by the new Home Secretary.

More about the 2014 protest and counter-protest with many more pictures on My London Diary at EDL London March & Rally.

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The Battle of Walthamstow – 2012

The Battle of Walthamstow: On Saturday 1st of September the extreme right English Defence League attempted to march into Walthamstow and hold a rally outside the Waltham Forest Civic Centre on Forest Road. Several thousand people from all of Walthamstow’s communities came together as ‘We are Waltham Forest’ determined to oppose them.

From a long rally in Walthamstow’s main square with speeches by many community leaders and performances by local drummers and singers, the people of Walthamstow marched to Forest Road, arriving an hour or so before the EDL march was due.

As they made their way along Hoe Street there was no doubt of their wide support from the community, with people coming out from virtually every shop and building, many waving and cheering in support.

When the march reached Forest Road many of the marchers sat down on the road at the key junction on the EDL march route. I left them there and walked back towards where the EDL march was to start.

When I saw the EDL march coming towards me, it looked more like a police march as the EDL were probably surrounded by more officers than there were supporters on the march. None of the main EDL leaders was on the march as they had gone separately to where they intended to hold a rally and were setting up the PA system.

It was hard to get a clear view of the marchers through the lines of police around them, and I only had a short telephoto when a much longer lens would have been useful.

But I managed to take some pictures of the marchers and many of them saw me and shouted abuse or made offensive gestures. Others tried to hold up hands in front of their faces – in one case making a woman look as if she was giving a Nazi salute. One man even rushed through a gap between police officers and put his hand over my lens before police dragged him back into the march. Although they got in my way I was rather glad the police were there.

A few people had come out onto the side of the streets to watch the marchers. Most did so in silence, but some held posters against the marchers or shouted at them. I saw only one supporter, an elderly man who came out of his house to greet them and was greeted with cheers from the marchers. As I commented, “Clearly here the silent majority they claim to represent was overwhelmingly against them.”

As the crucial road junction was blocked, police diverted the march down a side road shortly before it. Some of the EDL were angry at leaving the route and wanted to get at those blocking the road and there were some minor scuffles between the EDL stewards and police.

I went to the junction where the EDL march was led across the Chingford Rd and joined other photographers who were photographing the march and residents who had come to oppose them. Here EDL stewards dragged back marchers who tried to attack us and police and managed to keep their march more or less in order.

Police halted the march in Farnan Avenue at the side of the Civic Centre, but it was now clearly impossible for them to continue to the planned rally location because of the mass of protesters opposed to the EDL who were mainly held by police behind barriers on the opposite side of the road.

I went to where Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll had come with a few others to set up for the rally and took a few pictures before I was stopped by an EDL steward who insisted I was a Unite Against Fascism photographer and called over a police officer. I showed the officer my press card, but he still insisted I leave the area. I unhitched a barrier and went across to the other side of the road.

*Facing them were hundreds of people from Waltham Forest with the message ‘EDL not welcome’*

‘We Are Waltham Forest’ organisers had asked that the protest remain a peaceful one, but some had other ideas and a few sticks and other objects were begining to be thrown towards the EDL. A small brick landed a few yards from Robinson, and was picked up by him and handed to a police officer as evidence.

I moved to one side to avoid being hit as more objects began to be thrown – unlike many other photographers I wear no protective headgear. The situation appeared to be a stalemate, and although many of the counter-protesters had left it seemed unlikely that the EDL rally would be possible. When I left the EDL marchers were still surrounded by police in the side road.

Police later told the EDL that the rally could not go ahead, and the EDL leaders left. Police then kept the marchers surrounded for several hours for their own protection and after RMT members told police they would not allow hooligans to endanger the public by boarding trains, police decide to arrest them all and take them in vans to various police stations. They were apparently de-arrested and released in the early hours of Sunday morning.

This defeat was important in the demise of the EDL and you can see many more pictures at Waltham Forest Defeats the EDL.

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EDL Outnumbered in Chelmsford – 2012

EDL Outnumbered in Chelmsford: On Saturday 18th August I made my first (and quite possibly my last) trip to Chelmsford, Essex where the extreme right English Defence League were marching against plans to build a large mosque in the city. Chelmsford, the County Town of Essex, had in the previous month been given City status to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Until 1979 Muslims living in Chelmsford, Essex had to travel to London or Southend to attend Friday prayers. That year a house was rented for prayers and the following year the first floor of a restaurant became a mosque. As congregations grew other premises were found for worship. Permission to build a mosque was granted in 1992 but it was only fully completed in 1997.

Soon that mosque was becoming overcrowded and by 2012 plans were being made for a new larger building but there were a number of set-backs, including some strange and possibly racially motivated behaviour by the council, as well as financial problems and it was not built. In 2020 the Chelmsford Muslim Society were able to buy the Hamptons Sports & Leisure Centre which is now in use for both worship and leisure. The older Central Mosque in Moulsham Street is also still in use.

Over two hundred people had come to the centre of Chelmsford for a rally called by Unite Against Fascism to oppose the EDL march. I went to photograph them first and then went along to the pub where the EDL were meeting. There were far fewer EDL, perhaps 80 in all, and most were in the garden of the pub.

I went close to the fence around the beer garden in Cottage Place and took a few pictures of the EDL inside. I was met with abuse and one man complained to the police – who told him I was acting within the law. Others made V’ signs and other gestures for the camera, and I was pleased there was a fence between us.

After I had taken a few more pictures the officer politely requested I move away to avoid further upsetting the marchers and I complied as I felt I had already done all I could. Across the road in New Street EDL Essex Division spokesman Paul Pitt was being interviewed for TV, claiming the EDL were not racist and not generally opposed to mosques being built. He said that the size and location of the proposed building was unsuitable and that local people had invited them to come to Chelmsford and protest against it.

A few minutes later the EDL came out of the pub and formed up behind several banners for the march. I kept close to the banners at the front and to the police who were watching the marchers. They began singing racist EDL songs and as I stood on the corner photographing the march going past one man came menacingly right up to me and said “I hope all your family die of cancer.”

I was shocked, but followed the march as they were escorted by police for a short march around largely empty streets city and into a pen for their rally. Once they were inside police, sealed the street and allowed the UAF to sstart their much larger and more public march, far louder and with many more people, placards and banners than the EDL.

There was a single small incident where two EDL supporters came to the roadside and began to loudly shout ‘EDL!, EDL!‘ Police dragged them to a bench some distance away and held them until the march had passed and made clear they would be arrested if they interfered with it again.

*There were several people in clerical dress, including this local hospital chaplain*

The EDL were behind a couple of police lines perhaps 200 yards away as the march came to an end, but they will have been clearly able to hear the strength of the opposition.

I concluded my account on My London Diary: “Although the EDL managed to hold their march, it was a small event and went around the outskirts of the centre, seen by very few. The UAF and others held a long meeting right in the centre of the shopping area with much greater support, and clearly were far more successful and widely supported.”

Many more pictures at EDL Outnumbered in Chelmsford.

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A Scottish Protest – SDL and UAF in Edinburgh 2013

A Scottish Protest: On Saturday 17th August I photographed anti-fascists in Edinburgh protesting a march by the Scottish EDL in Edinburgh, the only time I have ever photographed a protest in Scotland.

I was in the city for the Edinburgh Festival, which I was also attending for the first and only time, having been invited to share a flat for the week with others. We did have a good time and went to quite a few performances and events but should I ever visit the city again I’d prefer to do so when things there were more normal – as I did back in 2003.

I found photographing the protest at times more stressful than usual. Partly because of the slightly different policing and the fact that I knew none of the protesters or the other photographers covering the event, (though I did recognise a few in the Scottish Defence Leagure protest from EDL protests in London) but also because I was using different equipment, working just with the Fuji X-E1 which was then my ‘travel’ camera rather than the brace of Nikons of my professional kit.

Not that the X-E1 wasn’t a good camera – and I’ve now been working for some years with other Fuji cameras to cut down the weight of my camera bag on my ageing shoulder. The Fuji lenses are fine but I still miss the directness of an optical viewfinder and the relative simplicity of the Nikon interface.

And the Nikon reliability. Often with various Fuji cameras I find it hard to get the cameras to behave as I want them too. Last Saturday checking my kit before I left home I could find no way to persuade my Fuji X-E3 to let me work in RAW rather than jpeg mode, eventually abandoning it for an older Fuji body. I did all the things that should have allowed it, but I suspect I will have to go to a full factory reset and then restore my favourite settings.

With the X-E1 I found the autofocus noticeably slower than with my Nikons and I did miss some pictures, but the results on those I did take were fine. Fuji glass really is good and the XF 18-55 is possibly the best ‘kit’ lens ever, though I did at times miss not having something wider than its 27mm equivalent and something longer then its 82mm equivalent.

I left the protest while it was still taking place and made my way to meet my wife and go to the postgrad show at the Edinburgh College of Art and then on to the ‘Attack of the 50 Foot German Comedian’, both something of a disappontment, before a restaurant meal with the others from the flat to celebrate the end of a week together. The next morning we were up early to catch the 10.30 train back to London.

You can read more about our week at the festival on My London Diary, with more from the protest at SDL and UAF in Edinburgh.

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Racists, Anti-Fascists, PR, Korea and a Victory Party – 2017

Racists, Anti-Fascists, PR, Korea and a Victory Party: Saturday 24th June 2017 was a long day for me, beginning with a march by the English Defence League and the anti-fascists who came to oppose it, moving on to another extreme right protest by the Football Lads Alliance on London Bridge then returning to Whitehall for a protest against the ongoing talks between Theresa May and the Ulster DUP to provide support for her minority government. In Parliament Square there was a picnic and rally against our ‘unfair first past the post’ voting system. From there I went to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square where supporters of North Korea were calling for the US to withdraw its troops from South Korea. Finally I went to Burgess Park in South London where cleaners from the LSE were celebrating a successful end to 8 months of campaigning.

EDL march against terror – Whitehall

Racists, Anti-Fascists, PR, Korea and a Victory Party - 2017

The EDL march followed closely after the 3 June event when three Islamists drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge killing eight people and injuring many more before being shot by police. Earlier in the year a police officer had been stabbed at the Houses of Parliament and a suicide bomber had killed 22 and injured over a thousand at the Manchester Arena.

Tempers were running high and just five days earlier a right-wing activist had driven a van into a Muslim crowd at the Finsbury Park Mosque. The Met were taking no chances and had issued strict conditions on both the EDL for their march and rally and for those who had come to oppose them, and had the police on the ground to enforce them.

The EDL were meeting outside (and inside) the Wetherspoons close to the north end of Whitehall and I joined them on the pavement. There were quite a few police in the area and the protesters were mainly happy to talk and be photographed. Eventually they were escorted by a large group of police to the starting point of their march, the police taking them through some back streets to avoid the counter-protesters who had previously been restricted to the corner of Northumberland Avenue.

EDL march against terror

Anti-fascists oppose the EDL – Northumberland Avenue

Several hundred Unite Against Fascism supporters had come to protest against the EDL march but although there were a few minor scuffles as EDL protesters made their way to the pub, a large police presence kept the two groups apart.

Police again handed out copies of the conditions opposed on their protest. A small group of protest clowns taunted the police but there was no real attempt to break the police conditions. Eventually the UAF held a rally opposite Downing Street kept by police well away from the EDL rally taking place at the same time on the Embankment.

Anti-fascists oppose the EDL

Football Lads Alliance at London Bridge

Well over a thousand supporters of the recently formed Football Lads Alliance marched to the centre of London Bridge to protest what they see as the UK government’s reluctance in tackling the current extremism problem. I arrived late when the march was over but was able to photograph some of those taking part as they posed with wreaths at the centre of the bridge.

I went on to photograph the many flowers and messages that had been put their by people in the days since the attack.

Football Lads Alliance at London Bridge

Women protest DUP/Tory talks – Downing St

Back at Downing Street women concerned over abortion rights, housing activists and others had come to protest against the talks taking place with the Democratic Unionist Party and the concessions Theresa May would make to get their support for her government after the 2017 general election had resulted in a hung parliament.

Many protesters were in red for the blood of lives lost without access to reproductive rights, but others came to protest about those who lost their lives at Grenfell tower because they were considered too poor or black to need safe housing, for the disabled who have died because of cuts and unfair assessments, for innocent civilians bombed overseas and by terrorists here, for the blood shed in Northern Ireland before the peace process and for the decision to gamble the rights, health and safety of LGBT+ people.

Women protest DUP/Tory talks

Time for PR – Save Our Democracy – Parliament Square

At the end of the rally at Downing Street I walked down to Parliament Square, where Make Votes Matter and Unlock Democracy had organised a picnic and rally after the recent election had again demonstrated the unfairness of our current voting system. The rally used various colours of balloons to represent the percentage of the vote gained by different parties.

Prime Minister Theresa May had called a snap election but failed to get the 326 seats needed for an overall majority with only 317 Conservatives elected. Her party had received 42.3% of the total votes. Labour under Jeremy Corbyn had improved its position and had gained 30 seats but was still well behind at 262 seats and 40% of the total votes. They had failed to gain some key marginals where the party right had managed to stop the party giving proper support to candidates or probably the party would have won the election. By making promises to the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP who had won 10 seats in Northern Ireland, May was able to remain as Prime Minister.

Time for PR – Save Our Democracy

Withdraw US troops from Korea – US Embassy

The UK Korean Friendship Association marked the 67th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, never officially ended, by a protest outside the US Embassy calling for the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea and an end to sanctions on the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, one of the least democratic countries in the world, a highly centralised authoritarian state ruled by the Kim family now for over 70 years, according to its constitution guided “only by great Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism.”

Withdraw US troops from Korea

LSE Cleaners Victory Party – Burgess Park, Southwark

*Mildred Simpson shows off the ‘Masters of Arts’ certificates that were presented to the cleaners at the protest*

Finally it was good to meet with the cleaners from the LSE and other members and friends of the United Voices of the World and Justice 4 Cleaners who were celebrating the end of their 8 months of campaigning at the LSE. I had been at the meeting when the campaign was launched as a part of the LSE’s 3-day ‘Resist’ Festival organised by Lisa McKenzie, then a research fellow at the LSE, and had photographed many of their protests and it was great to celebrate their success with them.

*Class War had supported the cleaners in their protests and some came to celebrate*

Their actions, including 7 days of strike, had achieved parity of terms and conditions of employment with directly employed workers and a promise that they would be brought in-house by the Spring of 2018.

Several of the cleaners spoke at the party and the cleaners were “presented with ‘Masters of Arts’ certificates with First Class Honours in Justice and Dignity.”

*Petros Elia, UVW General Secretary runs to organise everyone for a group photo*

The final part of the dispute was settled a month later in July 2017 when Alba became the 5th cleaner to be reinstated at the LSE in a year with the UVW “winning a groundbreaking, precedent setting tribunal hearing today which declared Alba’s dismissal not only unlawful but profoundly and manifestly unfair.”

LSE Cleaners Victory Party

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Turkish Spring, Badgers & BNP – 2013

Turkish Spring, Badgers & BNP: My day was particularly full on Saturday 1st June 2013 as I attended a memorial service for a close friend held at Southwark Cathedral in the early afternoon as well as as the protests in this post.

London Supports Turkish Spring – Marble Arch

Turkish Spring, Badgers & BNP - 2013 — *Supporters of Turkish football team Garsi support the Gezi protests*

I began at 11am at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, next to Marble Arch, where Turks were massing to march to the Turkish Embassy in Belgrave Square in solidarity with the ‘Turkish Spring’ protests against the Erdogan regime in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and across Turkey.

It was a high-octane event with a great deal of high-spirited chanting and more and more people were arriving for the march.

I had to leave as the event was getting underway, with most of the protesters sitting on the ground to listen to speeches. Later I heard that around 4,000 had marched to protest at the embassy,

More about the protest and more pictures on My London Diary at London Supports Turkish Spring.

Cull Politicians, Not Badgers – Westminster

This was the day on which it became legal to cull badgers in two pilot areas and over a thousand, many dressed in black and white and with badger masks or face paint met at Tate Britain on Millbank for a rally and march to Parliament against the cull.

Campaigners argue that the cull is not supported by most scientific evidence and that it will result in many badgers suffering cruel lingering deaths after being wounded by largely untrained marksmen.

*Among the speakers was Queen Guitarist Brian May, a leading campaigner for badgers*

I had to leave before they marched to go to Southwark Cathedral for the memorial service, but when I returned after attending this I met some of protesters who were still in Parliament Square, where they danced on the road in front of Parliament until they were cleared by police.

More about the cull and the protest – and many more pictures at Cull Politicians, Not Badgers.

BNP Stopped From Exploiting Woolwich Killing – Old Palace Yard

*Nick Griffin answers questions from the press under a placard ‘Hate Preachers Out’ and fails to appreciate the irony*

Fortunately police had stopped the BNP from holding a mass protest in Woolwich capitalising on the killing there of soldier Lee Rigby and had also banned their proposed march from Woolwich to Lewisham on grounds of public safety. Both would have been inflammatory and Lee Rigby’s father had also made clear that he and his family did not want his son’s death to be used to stir up hatred against Muslims.

Instead Nick Griffin and a small group of BNP supporters had come to Old Palace Yard intending to march from there to the Cenotaph to lay wreaths in Rigby’s memory, but their gesture to exploit the killing was opposed by a thousands of anti-fascists. It was a confrontation that stirred up memories from the anti-fascist mobilisation at Cable Street against Oswald Mosley’s blackshirts, and as on that occasion the police attempted to force a way through for the fascists, arresting large numbers of protesters, but eventually the BNP had to abandon the attempt to march.

*Across the heads of police they could see the counter-protest – and could clearly hear the chanting*

There were only a small group of supporters with Griffin, who blamed the low attendance on police turning back his supporters and making Westminster a “a virtual exclusion zone”. But I’d walked there with no problems from Westminster Station; there were large numbers of police and parked police vans as well as thousands of protesters, but I was not challenged or stopped.

Griffin and his group waited for around for several hours while police attempted to clear the route for him, arresting and driving away two double-deck buses full of protesters, but there were still enough to block the route. Eventually they walked in the opposite direction to their coaches.

BNP Exploiting Woolwich Killing Stopped

Anti-Fascists Stop BNP Wreath Laying – Parliament Square,

*Anonymous were there along with Antifa, trade unionists and the UAF to oppose the BNP hate*

I walked back from Old Palace Yard where Nick Griffin was being photographed and questioned by the press the short distance to Parliament Square where I saw a steady stream of protesters being arrested and taken onto two double-deck buses.

I photographed a number of those arrested, mainly walking calmly with police who were rather more violent with some others, and saw them threatening legal observers, then walked through the lines of police to the protesters who were still blocking the route. I imagine few of those arrested were charged with any offence, but probably detained for a dozen or more hours before being released – probably in the middle of the night. It’s a short period of arbitrary punishment that avoids the police having to do much paperwork.

There were some in wheelchairs who had come to block the fascists – and some were at the front of the protest.

Others were in ‘Anonymous’ masks.

Many linked arms to make it harder for police snatch squads to grab individuals

And there were some of the ‘badgers’ who had stayed on for this protest too.

The stand-off between protesters and police continued – and it was clear that it would not be possible for the police to clear the route without a clearly excessive use of force – and that they were not going to drift away as police had hoped.

There was much celebration When they heard that the BNP had abandoned their march and left the area, and the protesters marched up Parliament St to the Cenotaph, where there was a short speech and people began to leave.

Many marched up to Trafalgar Square but I went back the other way on my way home.

More on My London Diary at Anti-Fascists Stop BNP Wreath Laying.

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UAF Oppose EDL Westminster March – 2010

UAF Oppose EDL Westminster March: There is a long history of protests where anti-fascists come to oppose marches and rallies by extreme right groups in London, including of course the Battle of Cable Street, but I think we have had more of them in recent years, if not on that same scale.

But looking back on my coverage of this event of Friday 5th March 2010 what we have seen different is the policing of such confrontations. The more recent such events have seen huge mobilisations of police to keep the two groups apart, with extensive use of double barriers with a large ‘sterile’ no go area between them, and often some fairly aggressive policing and arrests to achieve this.

Attending more recent events journalists and photographers have had to choose which side of the event to be at, with often rather long detours being needed to go between the two – and having a Press Card is seldom of any use.

In 2010 police did keep the two groups apart, but only on opposite pavements of the road in front of the Houses of Parliament, and as my photographs show, I was able to move fairly freely from side to side.

Unite Against Fascism had tried to block the road a couple of hours before the EDL march after holding their rally in Old Palace Yard on the north side, but were then forced across the road onto the opposite pavement by police. I wasn’t there to see this but was told by others that there had been a few arrests when people had refused to move.

I had walked away down Millbank where the EDL were to hold a rally before marching to Parliament. I was early and nobody was there but as I had expected there were several hundred at a packed pub a couple of hundred yards further on with many standing on the pavement outside.

Most were in in a good mood and happy to talk to me and other journalists about why they were protesting – and you can read more about this on My London Dairy. I think I represented them fairly in my article, though as always they felt strongly that they did not get fair treatment in the press. I felt that the coverage was generally fairly accurate, the problem was more with the views and actions of some EDL members rather than the reporting.

As I noted in my account: “Later during the actual march I did get sworn at, threatened and given the finger, but only by a small minority of marchers, and a young female Asian journalist seemed to attract considerably more aggravation than me. There was also a considerable amount of clearly anti-Muslim shouting and singing, and the placards and slogans that attack the building of mosques seem to threaten all Muslims rather than just the extremists. The atmosphere was unpleasant, and really gave the lie to the earlier denials of racism.”

I went along with them to the rally outside Tate Britain, but the start was delayed and they went back to the pub. When it did finally start the main speaker was the Sikh Amit Singh (Guramit Singh Kalirai), and his speech seemed to me at times to be clearly racist in its attacks on Muslims. Police took no action over this or his other speeches, but three years later he was jailed for taking part in a violent attempted armed robbery.

From there the EDL were escorted by police as they marched to Parliament and taken into a pen on the north side of the road opposite the UAF. As I commented, “The first thing that many of the EDL did on arriving in the pen was to urinate against the wall of Westminster Abbey” but mostly they shouted often racist abuse at the UAF who responded with calling them racists and fascists.

The EDL made great play of denying they were racists and showing off their few Black and Asian members to the press. But there was a hugely visible difference between their largely white male crowd and those across the road which reflected the multiracial nature of London – and where women were in a majority.

After around an hour of shouting across the road the UAF crowd began slowly to drift away. Police kept the EDL in their pen but did escort a few to Westminster Station.

I decided it was time to leave. As I commented I hadn’t enjoyed spending much of the afternoon in the company of the EDL “hearing their racism and right wing simplicities. It was an unpleasant way to spend an afternoon, but I think its important to show these events and these people honestly.”

More about the event and more pictures on My London Diary at UAF Oppose EDL Westminster March.

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EDL March in Barking – 2012

EDL March in Barking: On Saturday 14 January 2012 around 200 EDL supporters gathered outside the ‘The Barking Dog’ Wetherspoons and marched from Barking Station to a rally outside the town hall, calling for an end to Islamic influence in England. Their protest was opposed by a smaller group of Unite Against Fascism supporters.

This pub had remained open while another nearby pub had closed, refusing to serve them. There was a large police presence watching them as well as journalists and photographers coming to record the EDL’s first march of 2012, organised by the Essex and Dagenham Divisions of the English Defence League.

Most of the marchers were keen to be photographed and posed for photographers, including one man who later pulled down his trousers to show the tattoos on his rear, while others joked and played up to the cameras.

The march organisers had been clear to stress that this was to be an entirely peaceful protest, and they made some attempts to curb the activities of their supporters, with stewards and others quickly stopping a small group who began an offensive chant about Allah. But there were plenty of other chants many of us find offensive.

Among those taking part were some who I recognised from earlier protests by racist organisations such as the National Front or BNP. Although the EDL claimed not to be racist it was hard to fine their claims in the slightest credible.

Police kept the marchers apart from a smaller group of counter-protesters, mainly from the local area, organised at short notice by UAF (Unite Against Fascism) who had only become aware of the EDL march two days earlier. They describe the EDL as “an organisation of racist and fascist thugs, who particularly target Muslims” and described the march through Barking as “as part of its attempts to stir up racism and division in the area.“

The EDL marched to a pen outside Barking Town Hall with another pen for the counter-protest some distance away, though the two groups were within shouting distance – and kept that up for most of the next hour and a half, with the UAF waving placards and the EDL making V signs and other gestures towards them.

A large crowd of perhaps a hundred police ensured that the two groups were kept apart. Police led away a couple of EDL supporters who made their way close to the UAF pen.

EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) was present but it was announced that he was not sufficiently recovered from the attack by “islamofascist thugs” to speak at the rally. The attackers were actually widely thought to be Luton Town football hooligans with whom he is associated. He talked with police for some minutes and then apparently asked them to escort him to his car.

At the end of the rally police escorted the remaining EDL supporters back to Barking station. Reports said that a group of them went on to Whitechapel where they had to be escorted out of the area by police for their own safety.

More about the event and many more pictures on My London Diary at EDL March in Barking.

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Stop the BNP, Olympic Allotments, End Deportation – 2008

Stop the BNP, Olympic Allotments, End Deportation: Saturday 21st June, 2006. A Love Music Hate Racism/Unite Against Fascism march, a visit to the replacement allotments for the Manor Gardening Society and a curiously legal protest against deporting refugees to Iraq.

Stop the Fascist BNP – LMHR/UAF – Tooley St – Trafalgar Square

The Love Music Hate Racism/Unite Against Fascism “Stop the Fascist BNP” march turned out to be a little of a damp squib, although a fairly colourful one, as only 2-3,000 people turned up to march from Tooley Street in Bermondsey to Trafalgar Square.

Perhaps Stop the War’s failure to capitalise on the mass following it gained with the largest ever demonstration in the UK in 2003 had discredited the idea of huge marches. Like Stop the War, Unite Against Fascism was seen by many as being largely a front for the Socialist Workers Party. The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight had disaffiliated from them in 2005, arguing for the need for new tactics and in particular to work in communities where the BNP were exploiting real problems rather than just opposing them on the streets and calling them fascists.

A bigger march would have been better, but more importantly for the audience which Love Music Hate Racism was attempting to reach it needed to be much more of a free and fun event.

The band who played at the start of the march were restricted to a single number, when they could well have played much more, and there was hardly any music on the march – I only saw one small marching band. Where were the great sound systems for people to dance behind?

And as I wrote, “I was frankly appalled by the attitudes of the stewards towards photographers, almost as if the event was trying to hide from publicity. I’ve had less hassle when photographing the BNP.”

More pictures at Stop the Fascist BNP – LMHR/UAF.

Manor Gardening Society – New Allotments – Marsh Lane, Leyton

The Manor Gardens Allotments fight to stay in place for the 2012 had failed. The gardens had presented the opportunity for the Olympics to show a real commitment to green ideas – and of course they had zero interest in really doing so. Green publicity stunts and lies yes, but Green actions and real content you had to be joking.

As I wrote “London in 1948 did really put the modern Olympics back on course, and it did so on vision and a shoestring – and even ended up making a profit. 2012 will be different in every respect. A commitment to corporate profit at high cost to the public purse appears to be the only vision on display, and a legacy of debt and environmental disaster seem to be the most likely outcomes.“

All tenants were evicted in late 2007 and the allotments were moved onto some common land in Leyton at a cost of £1.8 million, but the job was done terribly badly. They even took soil from the allotment site, but heat-treated it, killing all the life in it. Healthy soil is full of life – and as well as killing weed the treatment has killed off the microorganisms it needs, as well as larger creatures such as worms.

The soil was dead – and would take years to recover. Over much of the site it had been heavily compacted by heavy machinery working on the road andhad almost zero drainage. Whole areas were waterlogged. The only healthy crops I saw were in grow-bags.

I commented: “Of course it doesn’t look like the old Manor Gardens – more like some kind of prison camp, but I was pleased to see again many of those from the old site, making a good job of getting things growing again. One thing that hadn’t changed was the community spirit and the welcome – and the splendid salad and other food.”

The New Lamas Lands Defence Committee had campaigned against the loss of common land, but were assured it was only temporary – but there is now a permanent site there. In 2016 some of the tenants of the Manor Gardening Society were allowed to return to a small site at Pudding Mill, on the Bridgewater Road in Stratford. Two thirds of this site is now under threat from a development proposed by the London Legacy Development Corporation along its southeast which will put it under permanent shade.

Manor Gardening Society – New Allotments

Tent City – Stop Deporting Iraqis – Parliament Square

Voices UK had organised a 24-hour ‘Tent City’ starting at noon on 21 June, Midsummer Day as a deliberately illegal demonstration in Parliament Square, at the centre of the SOCPA restricted zone.

Much to their surprise, 4 days before it began they received an e-mail from a police office with its subject “Tent City Demonstration” and the message “I would like to inform you that an application has been received for this demonstration and it will be duly authorised“.

They had not made an application and could only think that the police had themselves applied rather than have to police an intentionally illiegal protest. Although it was now legal under SOCPA, the protest was still in breach of Westminster City Council by-laws and a couple of their heritage wardens came out to give letters telling them so – apparently accompanied by the police officer who had sent the email.

Fighting is still taking place in Iraq involving various factions as well as the occupying US and UK forces. Many Iraqis will still be at risk of their lives if they are returned.

But for the Home Office – then under Labour Home Secretary John Reid, deportations are largely a matter of numbers, not of people. Things of course got even worse in later years under Theresa May, Amber Rudd, Sajid Javid, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and James Cleverly, but I expect little change whoever wins our current election.

Tent City – Stop Deporting Iraqis

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EDL Rally Supports Israel – 2010

EDL Rally Supports Israel: In 2010 the English Defence League (EDL) an extreme right-wing organisation founded in June 2009 was reaching the peak of its existence and several hundred came to a protest in Kensington to show their support of Israel.

The EDL’s support of Israel came from the anti-Muslim centre of their activities; the group was founded following their opposition to a protest at a homecoming parade in Luton by a small group of Muslim extremists against a regiment returning from Afghanistan, which was also opposed by Luton’s large Muslim community.

The EDL had invited right-wing US Rabbi Nachum Shifren, part of the ‘Tea Party’ movement from California to speak at the rally outside the Israeli Embassy. As I wrote at the time, “Although the EDL claim to be opposing the rise of fascism in their opposition to Muslim extremists, they have come to a very biased view over Israel and Palestine, and have been very effectively infiltrated by bigoted Zionists.“

The EDL gathered at a pub on Gloucester Road before their march to the Embassy, filling the pavement outside. There were a number of press photographers on the opposite side of the street watching them but I decided to cross the road and talked with and photograph Rabbi Schriffin. None of the other photographers followed me.

For some minutes before the start of the march I was able to talk with him and some of the EDL supporters and some were happy to be photographed, and even complimented me for my accurate reporting on earlier protests – while complaining bitterly about the media coverage they get. As I told them I always try to report objectively, while also making my own difference of opinion clear.

The press they got did reflect the behaviour of at least some of those at their protests, and if the EDL wanted to end the accusations of racism they needed to take more positive action against the kind of behaviour that makes them possible. But many of their members including leading figures had a long history of membership of right-wing racist groups, and it was clear that the claim they made “We do not support racism or intolerance of any kind” was simply window dressing.

The leaflet they handed out described themselves as “the knights of old, defending our great nation for the threat of Militant Islam” and said “All welcome no matter of colour, religion or sex” and there was at least some truth in that shown in the composition of those in the march, with certainly a number of women, some claiming to be gay but, search as I have, not a single black face in my pictures.

For once Unite Against Fascism failed to mobilise much effective opposition to this demonstration – and did not appear to have tried very hard to do so. On their web site I found the statement “UAF does not have a position on the question of Israel and Palestine – our members have many different views on this question. Instead, we unite around our common aim of opposing the rise of fascism.” And as I commented, “Perhaps on this occasion they felt that taking action might offend some of their Jewish supporters.”

Some of those Jewish supporters were there in the rather small crowd opposing the rally, and there was a more direct action by a young man in a black jacket and gloves who came and stood listening for a short while, who took out his water bottle, had a drink and then reached over and poured the rest of it over the amplifier before turning and running down the street.

The sound from the microphone cut immediately, and the people inside the pen burst into angry shouts. It took the police longer to react and by the time they were moving the man had escaped, probably disappearing into High Street Kensington to catch the tube. I’d also been taken by surprise and hadn’t managed to take his photograph. Or perhaps I’d been wondering whether I should…

Eventually the water was tipped out and the amplifier wiped dry and came back into some very crackly life. Police shut the stable door by moving everyone outside the pen away and that and the sound quality made it hard to hear much of Rabbi Shifren’s speech, some minutes of which were in Hebrew. But he made clear his opposition to Sharia Law and Muslim extremists and I think to any aspect of multiculturalism. And I think he also denied the Palestinians any right to exist in the land which had been given to Israel.

*Roberta Moore of EDL’s Jewish Division*

I went home rather than go on with the EDL to Speakers Corner, where they were apparently heavily heckled. Another photographer who was there told me “that a small group of EDL supporters had attacked a Muslim bookstall and the 11-year-old boy who was running it, and then turned on photographers for taking pictures of their actions.” His camera had been smashed into his face by an EDL supporter. Photographs on the web confirmed this story.

On My London Diary I wrote at some length about my own views on the EDL and the event as well as putting far more pictures than usual online which you can view at EDL Rally to Support Israel.