Author Archives: Brighton Antifascists
LEICESTER PIGGED OUT
Another English Defence League march and another low turn out – this Saturday (4th February) it was Leicester’s turn to host flag-waving mob. Last time the EDL were in Leicester in October 2010 they mustered 1,500 and broke through police lines to ran amok attacking Asians. Tensions were therefore running high before the event.
This time round Leicestershire police were taking no chances, spending £850,000 with over two thousand cops in public order gear on the streets and the blanket use of the Public Order Act to force the opposing sides apart. Leicester’s cops produced a leaflet expalining that they had they had the power to take any person under the age of eighteen to a ‘safe place’ during the demonstrations.
The UAF pulled an interesting bait and switch on the day – having previously promised to abide by police instructions and confine themselves to a symbolic march announced on Friday that all opposed to the EDL should get to Leicester’s clock tower for a static demo. The clock tower had the potential to be a great vantage point to actively oppose the EDL. By Saturday morning however the UAF were urging people back onto the police approved march route. Cunning or contradictory? – Only you, the viewer, can decide. In the event the UAF march was tiny as active anti-fascists and local youth spent the energy attempting to get to the route of the EDL march from side streets
The day started with hundreds of anti-fascists and locals ignoring any Section 14 warnings and gathering at the Clocktower. According to one eyewtness from the Anti-Fascist Network “They were not veteran protesters but people who just did not want EDL in Leicester’s city centre” Police horses were used to kettle and push the crowd aside. According to a legal observer from the Network for Police Monitoring NETPOL, the costly police operation was directed at “controlling community opposition to the EDL” while facilitating the fascists unwelcome visit to the city.
An estimated 700 EDL marched past the shut up shops on Belgrave Gate. The official UAF march took a circular route back to Welford Place but some UAFers, assorted anti-fascist and local youths who had evaded the police also made repeated attempts to oppose the EDL along the way. They lined the latter stages of the EDL march and occupied the Clocktower area again.
NETPOL gave this summary of the 4th February in Leicester. “The EDL were enabled to move fairly freely, to break away from the main body of the march and form up in groups. They had few restrictions in reality whereas those who opposed them, especially young Asian men, faced a set of restrictions. They were picked on by police whenever they attempt to move in even relatively small numbers. One group of young locals were chased into a park and had dogs set on them. An ambulance was called. There difference between the policing of the EDL and the community response was marked throughout the day and everywhere in the city.”
After the marches were over locals gathered up in the city centre. It was clear to those looking on that anyone who was black or Asian put into a kettle. They were led with horses out of town. They were moved towards the Highfields area of Leicester and were, as one copper put it,being taken home. There have been reports of clashes – but no arrests were made.
In one interesting development the EDL were seen burning the flag of Argentina (that hotbed of jihadism)– hoping to ctach a ride on another patriotic wave as tensions over territory and oil deposits in the South Atlantic cause another hoo-ha about the sovereignity of the Falkland islands.
What’s next for our flag-waving chums? Rumour has it that they might be heading to Bristol – watch this space…
INFIDELITY
Meanwhile tiny EDL splinter group the Infidels held their own breakaway demo in Rochdale on the same day. Standing in the snow in an empty carpark surrounded by cops without any audience, this event was notable only for the re-appearance of openly Nazi groups such as the British People’s Party.
Solidarity needed for Anti-Fascist prisoner Jock Palfreeman
Jock Palfreeman is a 24 year old Australian who, on the 27th of December 2007,
had the courage to stand up against 16 fascist hooligans on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He witnessed the fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys. Jock ran to
the boys’ aid, he did his best to keep the fascists at bay by waving a knife at
them but they attacked him. Jock was left with nowhere to run and had no choice
but to defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the racist gang, was stabbed and killed
and another, Anton Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away.
Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder. He has
been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been fined 375,000 Australian
dollars. Jock has spent much of the time he has already served in isolation due
to a legal loop hole used by the prison authorities.
Andrey Monovs father is well known in Bulgaria and at the funeral there were a
mixture of judges, police and politicians. Jocks trial was (not surprisingly) a
complete sham – yet another example of corruption and secret handshakes in the
judicial system. The prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made
by the other Nazis that were there that night, all claiming that Jock randomly
attacked the group and chased them with the intent of killing somebody. Key
people and possible witnesses for Jocks defence were never interviewed by police
and the CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went missing. Many of the
statements made at the time were not the same as the statements submitted to the
court by the prosecution.
Jocks statement has remained consistent from the night in question.
You can read Jocks official statement at www.freejock.com You can also watch a
documentary about his case that contains interviews with Jock at the following
links:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rLrOW1g1k&feature=related
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdhA9UzRGqo&feature=related
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NRJF5x-D0&feature=related
Jock appealed against his sentence and few court hearings took place between October 2010 and January 2011. Despite police officers confirming his version of events, one of the fascists making totally incoherent statements in court trying to explain why he changed his original testimony , mounting evidence of judicial errors during the initial trial and all other factors pointing to his innocence his sentence of 20 years was upheld. (For Jocks statement about this please go to: http://anarchistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/jocks-sentence-upheld-after-an-appeal )
Jock now lost all the appeals and only one left to him is to appeal to European Union Court in Strasbourg. He is also trying to secure his transfer to Australia which proves difficult as Bulgarian prosecution service seems to be determined to keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria.
It is now more important than ever that we collectively put as much pressure on
the Bulgarian authorities as possible to accept Jocks transfer. We are in it for the long run- we need to let Jock now that he is not alone in his struggle and any solidarity actions can go long way to assure that. There will be Week of Actions organised at some point in March but we need to build up for that with protest messages being sent continuously as well and awareness being raised about the Jock’s case.
The more creative the actions the better. Don’t let Bulgarian state bury this courageous man alive in prison! Don’t let them think that they can get away with it!
Another important aspect is, especially for people in Australia , to keep pressure on their authorities to do something in Jocks case and officially demand his transfer as well.
If you are short of ideas why not try one of the following;
Organize solidarity actions outside Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates etc.
(for a list of the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates please see,
http://www.buldir.com/bulgarian_embassies_abroad.html).
Phone the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates with your protests.
Help us to bombard the Bulgarian Authorities with letters of protest and
requests for Jocks appeal to be accepted. It is also vital that we we send as many protest messages to prosecutors directly responsible for blocking his transfer.
(please see below for a list of addresses).
If you want us to help promote your events send us the details at
anarchosolidarity@yahoo.co.uk
Ideally protest letters are best written in your own words BUT we have provided
a sample letter (attached) that can be sent if you do not want to write your
own. Just print it out, sign it and post it, it’s as simple as that. Feel free to
reprint it and distribute it to anyone you think may send a copy.
We need to get the pressure up and
keep it up.
Addresses to post, fax and email your letters of protest to:
Krassimira Vocheva
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
Bulgaria
phone no: +359 28051500
email: infocenter@prb.bg
Borish Velchev
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
Bulgaria
phone no: +359 28051500
email: infocenter@prb.bg
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2 Aleksander Zhendov Str
Sofia 1040
BULGARIA
Tel: +359 2 948 2999
http://www.mfa.bg/en/contact/ (ready form for sending messages from their website, very helpful)
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria LONDON
186-188 Queen’s Gate
London SW7 5HL
Tel.: (0044) (0) 207 584 9400, (0) 207 584 9433
Fax: (0044) (0) 207 584 4948
E-mail: information@bulgarianembassy.org.uk
Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel: +359 2 971 1408. OR +359 2 971 3778. OR +359 2 948 2218.
Fax: +359 2 870 3041
E-mail: iprd@mfa.government.bg
Ministry’s Reception Desk
Tel: +359 2 948 2018 OR +359 2 971 1054
(opening hrs 09.30 – 12.00 and 14.00 – 16.00)
Ministry of Justice
E-mail: pr@justice.government.bg
Finally, please write to Jock, even if it’s only a ‘good luck’ postcard. Any
letters and postcards help to keep Jock feeling positive and high spirited and
all are gratefully received. You can write to Jock at the following address:
Jock Palfreeman,
Sofia Central Prison,
21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309,
BULGARIA
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to you in regards to Australian National Jock Palfreeman.
Mr. Palfreeman is currently imprisoned in Sofia Central Prison in Bulgaria.
After defending two young innocent boys from a viscous attack by a group of
drunken football hooligans, and later being forced to defend himself against the
same assailants, he was sentenced to twenty years incarceration under charges of
murder and attempted murder.
He is clearly only guilty of causing accidental death while using self defence.
Mr. Palfreeman witnessed the gang (of around 16 men) attacking the two boys and
ran to their aid. While trying to keep the gang at bay he suffered a viscous
attack and was left with no choice but to defend himself. His version of events
has remained consistent since the night in question and is supported by numerous
witnesses. All of whom are prepared to testify in his defence.
It has since transpired that at his trial, to my astonishment, key people and
possible witnesses were never interviewed by police, the CCTV footage from the
scene went missing and many of the statements that were submitted to the court
by the prosecution were not the same as the statements made (by the same people)
on the night in question.
Anything working in favour of Mr. Palfreemans’ defence was completely
disregarded by the judge and the prosecutions case was built on the witness
statements made by the football hooligans that initially attacked the two boys,
all claiming that Mr. Palfreeman randomly attacked them and chased them with the
intent of killing somebody.
The trial was a farce so were all appeals
I ask that the Bulgarian Authorities allow him to be transferred to Australia where he can be closer to his family and stop their attempts to try and keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria.
We will continue showing our solidarity and highlighting his case until we are satisfied with the progress.
Mr. Palfreeman selflessly saved the lives of two young boys, risking his own
safety and costing him his own freedom. He should be deemed a hero, not a cold
blooded killer!
Signed
‘A Superb Start’? I Doubt It by Malatesta
Crivvens! Jings! And Help Ma Boab! The English Defence League maybe getting short of members and credibility but they are certainly not short of self-delusion. Hilariously, one poster on the EDL’s rather moribund web forum claimed that ‘the year 2012 has started absolutely superb, and is going to be the year that people start to realise that the EDL are not going anywhere [sic!]’ and that the EDL are going to be around FOREVER! FACT! Quite. They are seriously delusional if they think that the following constitute ‘a superb start!’ So far this year the EDL have had the embarrassingly miniscule turnout and media blanked Barking amble, another humiliation at Whitechapel, the increasing rivalry between the Infidels and the Tommy Robinson Band – ‘2, 4, 6, 8 – racial hate!’ – a pathetic turnout of 8 at their Dewsbury cop shop demo, the cancellation of their Stoke shindig after anti-fascist pressure on the venue, several members going to prison, the fallout amongst their fellow organisation the Combined Ex-Farcicals and an absolutely pisspoor turnout last week for their protest in London in support of soldiers weeing on dead Muslims that made the Dewsbury demo look positively busy! As we all know the EDL are not the deftest ambassadors of the English language but to use the word ‘superb’ in relation to this utter shambles is taking it a wee bit far! Even for them! And not only that! According to one of our friends on Urban75 the Leicester Casuals had threatened to turn up at the UAF meeting last week and boasted of a ‘50 strong firm’ who were intent on causing uproar and brouhaha. When they found out it was being held in a particularly strong Asian area they then bottled it and subsequently deleted all reference to it on Facebook. (Thanks Intersol32!). 10 silly wee radges also turned up for an EDL meeting in Bristol but found that, sadly, the boozer was full of antifascists. One of them timorously squeaked into his mobile that ‘there’s about 30 of them and they’re really big boys!’ then ran away. Anti-EDL leaflets were distributed round the pub and a good night was had by all. Well done Bristol Antifascists, in soccer parlance I believe that’s called ‘taking a diabolical liberty!’ Of course, the EDL saw it differently and say they held their meeting and this was all a lie by the UAF-commie-Muslamic-Photoshop-searchlight-lib/lab/con-conspiracy and the meeting was attended by EVERYBODY IN BRISTOL! FACT! In dire need of an ego-boost or even the vaguest hope of positive coverage in the media, the EDL are looking forward to the forthcoming Dispatches programme about themselves. However, the EDL have a record of attacking journalists: at Tower Hamlets alone 1 journalist was squirted with lighter fluid and set on fire and another female journalist was groped. NUJ members have recorded cases of intimidation and threats of violence against members: http://twitpic.com/3nupfl/full Please note that the author, presumably Jeffrey ‘Stabber’ Marsh, the convicted violent soccer tearaway who is busy trying to relive his youth, calls for a ‘fatwa’ against journalists and cannot ‘guarantee their safety.’ As journalists, we hope that the Dispatches team will be making a point of this in their programme. The ever-deluded EDL have been contemplating ‘buying’ a bigger server to cope with the ‘millions’ of recruits who will no doubt be in touch after watching them on the telly! Crivvens! The next EDL demo is in Leicester on February 4th which is going to be interesting and show how much support they still have as the rival Infidels faction, headed by the unreconstructed Snowy ‘Crack Pipe’ Shaw (llama breeder, bottom feeder and ugly bleeder), are having one on the same day in Manchester! Why can’t they all get along eh, instead of giving Mr. Plod 2 major brain aches in 1 day. Needless to say Facebook pages are full of desperate entreaties to buy up empty coach seats for the rival demos with one charabanc calling at Preston, Wirral, Liverpool and ‘Lancashire’ so short are they of local members to fill it. Not only that but Plod have just announced an alcohol ban on the Leicester do which is not going to go down too well. Some of the naughty wee Infidels in the North East have been threatening to attack the antifascist film festival in Leeds on the same day but it is safe to assume that it will be another job where they talk it up, can’t get the numbers and then all fallout over who bottled it or, as is usually the case, didn’t get up in time having spent the night with the EDL royal couple Stella and Charlie. A wee tip laddies, if you are going to attack somewhere, don’t announce it three months before on Facebook because if you don’t do it, you look like eejits! The Infidels are claiming that 2012 is going to be the Year of the Infidel. Well, we shall see about that on the 4th. Some half-arsed and friendless Facebook page, the Walsall Youth Casual United, claim to be holding a ‘violent demo’ on March 3rd and taking back Walsall Centre. Given the track record of the EDL et al in the Midlands, we wish you the very best of luck with that one! More serious is the conference being held in Denmark by various anti-Islamic groups and pro-Anders Breivik fan clubs. Given that most ‘Defence Leagues’ are tiny except the fragmenting English one, we are not expecting much and hope Danish antifa are good and ready. Mind you, the last couple of times Mr. Tommy has been ‘abroad’ he had his flag snatched by Amsterdam Antifa and did nowt about it before being humiliatingly chased away with his chums. In Zurich he was arrested on the pointless rooftop protest over poppies, fined and deported. Oh dear, signs full of dire portent Mr. Tommy! That’s assuming Mrs. Tommy will let you go as things have been more than rocky of late chez-Robinson which is why Mr. Tommy has been trying to ‘go political’ by joining the fluffy fascist British Freedom Party, a bunch of exBNP no-hopers, chicken chokers and pant strokers, in the hope that he can gradually back out of it all having fleeced the EDL membership and spent enough time on the nonce wing in various prisons to last a lifetime! See you on the 4th Mr. Tommy! PS: more of EDL types threatening journalists! http://1millionunited.org/blogs/blog/2010/06/02/exclusive-edl-marshs-violent-threats-to-guardian-writer/
EDL routed in Whitechapel
(taken from Schnews)
The sorry tale of the EDL is perhaps wending it’s way to an anti-climax. Yesterday saw a piss-poor turn out in Barking end up in an ignominious defeat in Whitechapel.
The league decided to make a stand in Barking – long an area of widespread BNP support. Admittedley this was only intended to be a regional demo not one of their national ‘big ones’ but even so the turn-out was poor.
SchNEWS spoke to a local anti-fascist “It really was a poor turn-out about 80 of them mostly old guys in their fifties or young kids – no casuals to be seen”. The EDL were cordoned off by police outside Barking Town Hall and exchanged points of view with a small UAF contingent. Later the right-wingers were bombarded with pots of yoghurt from above.
After that not particularly inspiring effort a few leaguers decided to up the ante. Around twenty of them got off the tube at Bethnal Green and pub-crawled their way up to the East London mosque. Attentive SchNEWS readers will know that this was the target of the EDL Tower Hamlets demo back in September.
According to our anti-fascist witness “They were there briefly, shouting ‘Allah is a paedo’, then almost straight away one of them got knocked out. Within ten minutes there were three or four hundred locals there ready to confront them. There were also TSG [riot police] all over the shop. The EDL were then all arrested for their own safety” Nice one guys!
For more:
Bristol EDL find Drawbridge is closed
A meeting of the Bristol EDL didn’t get off to a flying start (or any start at all for that matter) as they found 30 militant antifascists waiting for them in the Drawbridge pub on St. Augustine’s Parade last night. Around 10 visibly nervous EDL members turned up and didn’t stay long when they realised they didn’t have many friends in the pub. One was overheard on the phone saying “There’s about 30 of them. They’re big. Don’t come here.” One of the Bristol EDL’s players, Chris Pugh arrived fashionably late (like, an hour and a half late!) and stood on his own by the bar looking sheepish and more than a little bit down in the mouth as anti EDL leaflets were distributed around the pub. 2 hours after the supposed start time of the meeting, with the EDL crowd dispersed, we were happy to agree the job was done.The successful occupation of their meeting place by antifascists prevented the local right wing bigots from meeting up as intended and will not have done much for the confidence and self esteem of an organisation already floundering with infighting and lack of direction. It was clear to all involved that for all their big talk and tough guy image, when faced with serious opposition, the EDL, like most fascist groups, back down quicker than you can say “Where have all the fascists gone?!”
Bristol EDL or any other fascist scum can expect more of the same. Zero tolerance of fascism in our city.
Bristol antifascists.
South East BNP Meeting
Brighton and Hove BNP claim to have held their first meeting in the town for two years – previously they claim to have been meeting in ‘nearby villages’ as Brighton is such a ‘hotbed of reds’.
Do you know these people? Do you recognise this pub?
HASTINGS NO SHOW FOR THE BNP
Anti-fascists from Brighton joined Hastings activists and local people outside a lonely Memorial Hall in Hastings. A hundred and fifty people waited four hours but the leader of the BNP failed to show. The meeting was set to go ahead at Baldslow Memorial Hall but the BNP were a no-show.
Weeks later the BNP claimed to have met in Eastbourne that fateful night (hilariously claiming that there were 200 of them), but being kicked out of Hastings was a victory in istelf. The BNP have used that hall seven times and won’t be meeting there again!
The best line of the nights goes to a jogger who ran past at about seven thirty. “If you find Nick Griffin, tell him he’s a cunt”.
BNP: Union Jack Shit
Re-posted with kind permission from www.schnews.org.uk
BNP: Union Jack Shit
Local anti-fascists were out and about around the South Coast this week as the BNP tried to rear their ugly mugs once again.
Over the last month, the BNP have been trying to establish a street presence down south. They’ve attempted with varying degrees of success to hold stalls in Worthing and Bognor, and made a morale-boosting effort to host Nick Griffin in Hastings. Throughout they have been opposed by a rag-tag but determined bag of anti-fascists.
Although the official nasty party have managed to hold street stalls under the radar, Griffinbore couldn’t show his face in Hastings and a constant weekend vigil by anti-fascists has frustrated any further stalls. The most recent effort in Worthing on Remembrance Sunday was abandoned as quote “there are too many scruffy commies in town”.
A further blow for our ‘It’ll be all white on the night’ foes came when they advertised a meeting on their website happening in Bognor/Littlehampton on 15th November at 7.30pm – with the no doubt riveting main address to be given by one Jonathan Hall (Brighton BNP organiser) on the subject of public spending. Spice was added to this snoreathon by an attempt to keep the meeting place secret.
Unfortunately for the red white ‘n blue brigade, they aren’t running a very tight ship and the venue location was leaked – Aldwick Parish Hall. It turned out to have been booked by BNP Barnham Parish Councillor John Robinson. It wasn’t even his own Parish Council Hall (where he had no support for hosting his party’s meetings) but one further into the bowels of Bognor. On the night of the meeting anti-fascists attached banners saying “Racism in secret is still racism” to road signs and roundabouts along the route to the hall. In the face of such opposition, the meeting was called off and never took place.
According to Brighton anti-fascists “The BNP might want to claim that the meeting went ahead at another location but there is some very reliable information to the contrary. At the time that the November 15th meeting was supposed to take place, John Robinson and Jonathan Hall were sitting at home wondering what went wrong.”
Liverpool EDL’s vendetta against the working class
(althoutfollowing article deals only with Liverpool branch of EDL tossers, same sort of ideas and attitude prevail amongst other EDL “divisions”, so we decided it is worth to publish this one on our website after nicking it from Liverpool Antifascists one- thans guys!)
Although I and others have long noted the English Defence League’s anti-working class agenda, it seems that of late the Liverpool Division have decided to ramp it up a notch. Today, few will have been surprised to hear that several EDL members came out in opposition to the demo against the BNP conference. But it’s not just anti-fascist events they have been targeting.
At the end of September, they had stood with the BNP at a demonstration outside the filming of Question Time after telling their members: “Liverpool City Centre will be swarming with UAF, LiverAF and Trade Unionists tonight. Get Involved and Enjoy. On Thursday as 100+ people demonstrated against the City Council’s plans to cut another £50 million in jobs, welfare and public services, two EDL came along to heckle. The following day they announced that they were “patrolling for leftys” [sic] and soon found some “protesting outside the LMH building on Lime St/London Road.” These were workers who had been laid off by the council after an outsourced company went bust and had been holding regular demonstrations since the end of August.
Clearly, any working class person standing up for a cause has now become fair game for Liverpool EDL. No matter where they are from or what they are protesting, they are “lefties” and it is their duty – as they put it yesterday – to “do the cunts.”
This all fits in with the agenda announced back in March by “Snowy” – a member of the EDL splinter group, the Infidels – whereby the fascists would “put all our efforts into opposing everything [left-wingers] do regardless of the issue at hand.” As I noted at the time, it was clear that “the fascists have thrown their lot in against organised workers,” and Liverpool EDL have been more than willing to follow that example. They are now promising to put all their energy into counter demos and “run the streets like a mob.”
The EDL, and their Liverpool Division most explicitly, are enemies of the working class. This fact was already apparent to many, but an open declaration of war against organised workers willing to stand up for their interests only underlines this fact. By taking such a stance, they have put themselves firmly on the same side as the bosses – as fascists so often do at times of heightened class conflict.
This point renders the need for working class unity against fascism more urgent. Fighting the far-right is not a specialised task to be outsourced to specific groups, but a job for all of us who do not wish to be divided by bigotry and violence. When the BNP, the EDL, or any other fascists are on the streets, working class people should be out there ready to stand up against them. This means countering their propaganda and making our voices louder than theirs. But it also means being prepared to physically resist them when they attack us or invade our communities.
¡No Pasarán!
The last gasp of EDL? by Malatesta
(We wouldn’t necessarily agree with everything in this aticle, but Malatesta’s writing is as usual very interesting and packed with funny and interesting info, so enjoy)
‘We’re going nowhere down the road!’
Well what a resounding success that wasn’t! The English Defence League’s ‘last national demo’ in Birmingham at the weekend was more like the last gasp of an increasingly riven and moribund mob. Scarcely a couple of hundred bothered to turn up to stand in the rain before being shunted into coaches and moved out again. As usual the EDL said they would demonstrate ‘where we want, when we want’ but of course it was an utter shambles, they bottled out and plod gave them a time and a place only to shift it in the last few days and gave them two hours tops to do whatever it is they do these days.
Various EDL Facebook sites were asking where was the usual opposition and the answer is that most antifascists can’t be bothered with the EDL anymore as they are clearly going nowhere and besides which, there are more important things going on at the moment. EDL splits, rivalries, rows over money, egomania and plain bad behaviour has seen the ranks dwindle over the last 6 months or so and they are looking weaker and weaker with every demo. The Infidels break away has affected the EDL’s numbers significantly. As with all fascist grupuscules too many people want to be Del-Boys and not enough want to be Rodney’s. The average EDL eejit hasn’t much money to spend gadding around the green and pleasant to be kettled in by coppers and ignored by the media. Any media attention they’ve got has been wholly negative because rather than talking to journalists the EDL attack them instead. Lads, as journalists are your conduit to the national media and they determine the tone of reportage, attacking them is not going to endear you to them.
The EDL really thought they would fare better than previously in the jewel of the Midlands: 1st time they went, loads got nicked, they got battered and were humiliated. Did they really think that this time would go smoothly? The local MP and various councillors called for a ban given the large policing bill they were landed with the last time the EDL came to ‘defend’ the town. Plod proved wiser than usual and had them under heavy manners right from the moment they got off their coaches. Then the 250 assembled in the drizzle and were told off by the speaker for throwing fireworks and bottles in their usual ‘peacefully protesting’ manner. Shame on you boys! The speaker did not condemn the racist statements and half-arsed Nazi salutes though. Most of the pubs either closed or refused to serve beer to them and they ended up in the Walkabout Aussie theme bar whilst the riot cops outnumbered them outside. Liverpool, Croydon and some Yorkshire members managed to get out of bed and probably wish they hadn’t as they could have donated all that hard earned to the EDL’s royal couple, Stella and Charlie. Nottingham EDL’s Joanne ‘Bus Stop’ Dickens said she was going as did Hayley and the Plymouth EDL/Combined Ex-Forces despite the fact Tommy had said they were ex-communicated. Has Tommy been fibbing again?
Anyway, to cap it all off, after the usual long winded speeches, bored and drunken yobs ‘spoiled it’ for the assembled numbers by fighting amongst themselves again. The fallout on the forums was inevitable: many complained that the static demos are getting nowhere; that the racists and Nazi saluters are still there (they’re your core constituents chaps!); that many were drunk and out of control fighting with cops and stewards; and that once again EDL looked like drunken, racist hooligans. Well, that’s because you are! Much dismay, accusations of bottling, resignations and insults were flying about on the net which was great fun to read. There has been a call for an EDL national meeting which will no doubt be a disaster and end with a load of pissed up hooligans all trying to have their say and fighting with each other instead of sorting out their political future. And the numbers of supporters at demos continues to decline. One of the reasons is that many EDL have been arrested and their bail conditions prohibit them from going anymore. That is if they haven’t been sent to prison already! Scarcely a week goes by without yet another EDL lobo-case being sent down for their stupid, drunken, racist antics. Check out our friends on Everything EDL
http://twitpic.com/photos/everythingedl
and EDL News
for more info on the recidivist yobbos!
And where was ‘Sir’ Tommy? At Tower Hamlets he promised us he would show up for every national demo despite his bail conditions. However after getting remanded on the nonce wing following the Tower Hamlets ‘victory,’ Tommy has not been overenthusiastic about another stint at Her Maj’s Pleasure – though this may be about to change. Tommy also hasn’t learnt from his many previous mistakes: after the Jodie Marsh and Joey Barton photo fiascos, he was pictured with some crap magician who has since denied knowing who he was. Maybe you should ask Jeremy Paxman instead Tommy, he REALLY likes you!
Infi-Del Boys
After the sparsely attended embarrassment of their Leeds debut, the Infidels ended up meeting renegade EDL, SDL and other partial-wits for a show of, err, strength, in Newcastle. However, they did a lot better than the Newcastle National Front turnout which numbered a pathetic 8 fascists stood looking clueless in the Toon. Feeling their usual lager bravery some Infidels and other National Front Bottoms attacked the Occupy Newcastle site which fascist forums claimed to be a ‘victory.’ But this was not enough violence so the associated eejits decided to battle it out between themselves instead and happily kicked each other in the testicles for 20 minutes. Don’t take our word for it! Check out our friends in Lancaster!
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2011/10/redneck-roundup.html
Check out the axe merchant! This infighting reveals yet more splits amongst the tiny far right grupuscules and the blossoming romance between the Front Bottoms and the Infidell-ends is over.
The EDL and other associated grupuscules are scab organisations doing the self-defeating work of the ruling classes for them: they attacked the Occupy Newcastle site which is protesting against corporate greed and the unaccountability of capitalist organisations; they threatened to attack students who were protesting against education cuts and view all students as ‘middle clarse’ which is naïve beyond belief; and they opposed the massive march against cuts which was protesting against the decline in living standards, government austerity and attacks on public sector jobs and pensions. No doubt, they will oppose future demonstrations which are supported by tens of thousands – unlike their squalid little demonstrations which most people and the media completely ignore.
Fail, Bail, Jail.
So, this has not been a good year for Tommy Robinson: the Infidels split and other petty fallouts have drastically affected numbers on EDL demos; Tommy got nicked and remanded at Tower Hamlets, spent some time inside on the nonce’s wing on ‘hunger strike’ and on his release he went for a Halal Nando’s which gave him a poorly tummy; he got a guilty on the Luton football hooligan thing and he is still under investigation for fraud and has had his assets seized. When the headbutt case comes up on the 3rd November he probably won’t be going home for tea that night (his favourite is spaghetti hoops and fish fingers. No foreign muck for Tommy!). All of which will leave
the EDL leadership in the less than capable hands of Hel ‘And Damnation’ Gower, who is 70 and everyone hates (she likes Soleros and Weetabix best) and Kocaine Kev Karol (turkey Twizzlers and a whole Vienetta), a less than gifted public speaker and organiser. Maybe it’s time for Tommy to wrap it up and grab what little cash is left before it all goes horribly wrong. Or not.
P.S…
Our antifascist friends way down on the south coast have launched a call for a more coherent antifascist organisation. Check them out here!
Brighton Anti-fascists 