Lancaster Unity

It's time for LU to say goodbye

2012-01-12T14:14:00.006Z

For seven years, first on my own server then on Blogger, Lancaster Unity (formerly Lancaster UAF) has been fighting fascism and racism as embodied in such groups as the BNP and the EDL. From originally being set up to accompany local anti-fascist activity, the blog spread itself wider until it became a national resource with, over the years, many excellent contributors and countless thousands of readers.

When LU began, there was a gap in the market for a continually updated blog that has now been closed by a number of anti-fascist organisations elsewhere, some of which are listed below. Also, the advent and popularity of Twitter and Facebook (both easily accessible and updatable via smartphones) has made the anti-fascist presence on the internet much larger and more effective than it has ever been before. While the bad guys use technology to humiliate and embarrass themselves, anti-fascists have used it to inform and organise.

Because of ongoing health problems which are drastically eating into the time I can devote to Lancaster Unity, it has gradually become a copy and paste blog with very few original articles. This is no bad thing because it's always useful to have one type of news that appeals to a certain group located in a single place. This role though, is rapidly being superceded by Twitter, which does the same job very well. Better, in fact, than we ever could. Thus, it's time for Lancaster Unity to stand down, though the blog as it is will remain here as an archive and a resource for anti-fascists.

It's not too bad a time to be going. The EDL, although it has political ambitions, seems incapable of keeping itself from fragmenting in all directions, while the BNP at the moment appears to be shrinking by the day while Nick Griffin spends half his time in the European Parliament participating in the gravy train that he once professed to despise, and the other half boring us all to death with his tedious stories about smoked salmon.

Even better, it's a real pleasure to be leaving in the week that two of the killers of Stephen Lawrence have finally been convicted. We look forward to the day that the rest of them get banged up.

Big thanks to Denise and John, both of whom helped make LU what it was, and very many thanks to our contributors: Andy Minion, Iliacus, Roddy, Larry and all the rest of them. Special mentions go to NewsHound and Zaahid, both excellent news-spotters who should get their own sites together and keep up the good work. Naturally, a site such as this is useless without readers, and we've had a loyal and feisty readership over the years whose contributions have easily been as interesting as ours. Thank you to all of you (except the nazis, who are just complete morons).

We've been helped since the blog began by a number of organisations. Principal among these are Searchlight (who gave us essential help to get started in the first place, and who we worked closely with on numerous occasions), Hope not hate and Unite Against Fascism. Special thanks to those three and to all the other people who have helped out in one way or another.

It's been (at times) great fun, interesting and bloody hard work (especially on the all-night election specials). Thank you to everyone for all your input.

Although I have a good deal less time and energy these days, I shall be posting occasionally at my own blog space on Searchlight's new website. Thanks to Searchlight for offering me both the opportunity and the space. John has moved over to Anti-Fascists Online.

Ketlan
Lancaster Unity

This is not a comprehensive list of anti-fascist resources. If you think I've left anyone out who should be included, email me or make a comment and I'll add them.

Searchlight
Hope not hate
Unite Against Fascism
Anti-Fascists Online
EDL News
Everything EDL
Malatesta's Blog
Love Music Hate Racism
Show Racism the Red Card
EDL Watch at Urban75
HateWatch
Indymedia
Love Music Hate Homophobia
Liverpool Antifascists
Kick It Out
ICARE

Racism doesn’t belong in the 21st Century

2012-01-11T12:52:00.001Z

The slave trade was abolished in 1807. Viv Anderson became the first black footballer to play for England in 1978. In this Olympic year, our three big gold medals hopes – Mo Farah, Philips Idowu and Jessica Ennis – are all from ethnic minorities. These are just three, among a whole host of others, reasons why it staggers, and saddens, me that the question of race still pops up in the media on a regular basis.

Leaving sporting examples for a moment – Luis Suarez and John Terry, you can have a breather – recently there has been a flux of media reports that has racism under the microscope. The Stephen Lawrence verdict, and Diane Abbott’s Twitter gaffe has given us more unwanted reasons to have to address the issue of race.

It’s fair to say that these two first and foremost should not be categorised together – but it is a sign and a shame that they are, just because they mention race. One is about a murder of an innocent and promising man, which exposed police failings and institutionalised racism in the force. The other is an out-of-context 140 character statement from an MP to one of her followers. They are hardly in the same basket.

The real shame is that we still have to talk about it. Do I think this country is racist? Absolutely not. Do I think there are morons who judge people purely on the colour of their skin? Certainly.

To analyse the Lawrence verdict is far too complex in terms of how race was involved, but it is definitely worth remembering that this happened in 1993 – and the problem with racism has moved on a great deal. It would be appalling if it hadn’t in 20 years, so it is good to see that progress has been made in this country.

“The whites have become black” was the statement from one-time decent presenter David Starkey in the aftermath of the riots last summer. I’ve seen this compared to what Diane Abbott put on her Twitter this week. How these two are in any way similar I have no idea, but there’s clear distinctions. For those unfamiliar with it, Diane Abbott MP tweeted “White people love playing divide & rule”. I highly recommend before you have an opinion on the issue, read the full conversation. It has clearly been taken out of context, and in context it is obvious that Abbott was not addressing white people in general, but those who address black communities as an entire group, with no individuals.

Not only is it a severe reminder that MPs need to be aware of firstly the twitter character limit, but careful of how they use language. The difference between Abbott and Starkey is that the latter used being black as a derogatory term, and implies that it was only ethnic minorities responsible for the rioting last summer.

It angers me, upsets me, makes me despair that there are those who still judge on the colour of the skin. I found a sickening Facebook page run by the EDL about Stephen Lawrence. The nasty head of racism still rears its head, but as a country we are better than that.

If those that want to be racist still harbour 19th century attitudes, fine. But you should have to live a 19th century lifestyle. Women, you can’t have a job, or the vote, and a sub-standard education. Men, most of you can’t vote, 80% of you will be working class, and if you have TB you’ll be buried alive.

Your choice.

Andrew Butler at Platform

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Immigration does not cause unemployment

2012-01-10T12:11:00.003Z

Study refutes claim that foreign nationals are depriving British-born workers of jobs

There is no link between rising immigration and rising unemployment, independent economists have found – contradicting persistent claims from anti-immigration activists and politicians that an influx of foreign nationals into the UK in recent years has led to more British-born workers on the dole.

The respected National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that there was "no association" between higher immigration and joblessness – even at times of recession or low growth of the sort that Britain is experiencing at the moment. In fact, the Institute's researchers suggested that the opposite might be the case and that immigration acts as an economic stimulus, pushing total employment levels higher and dole claimant numbers lower than they would otherwise have been.

"Perhaps surprisingly," their economists said, "the interaction between migrant inflows and GDP emerges as positive, indicating that during periods of lower growth, migrant inflows are associated with ... slower [dole] claimant growth than would otherwise have occurred." The researchers did concede that the stimulating effects of migration on the overall labour market at a time of recession are likely to be small.

The anti-immigration pressure group MigrationWatch claimed yesterday that rising immigration from Eastern and Central Europe since European Union enlargement in 2004 had contributed to a surge in youth unemployment in Britain, which is now above 1 million. MigrationWatch released its own report, saying: "Youth unemployment in the UK increased by almost 450,000 in the period from 2004 Q1 to 2011 Q3. Over the same period, numbers of workers from the A8 countries grew by 600,000.

"Correlation is not, of course, proof of causation but, given the positive employability characteristics and relative youth of migrants from these countries, it is implausible and counter-intuitive to conclude ... that A8 migration has had virtually no impact on UK youth unemployment."

However, critics of MigrationWatch pointed out that youth unemployment started rising before 2004, the point when Polish and other former Soviet bloc nationals were freely permitted to enter the UK to work.

And Jonathan Portes, the director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, also argues today that most of the rise in youth unemployment took place in 2008 and 2009, a period during which the number of Eastern European workers entering Britain to seek employment dipped. Government ministers have implied a link between immigration and joblessness. "Controlling immigration is critical or we will risk losing another generation to dependency and hopelessness," said Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in a speech last July.

The Coalition has imposed a cap on immigration from outside the European Union and has pledged to reduce net migration to "the tens of thousands" a year by the end of this parliament in 2015. The Office for Budget Responsibility, however, has cast doubt on whether the Government will succeed in meeting this goal, with the Coalition's fiscal watchdog estimating that average annual migration until 2016 will be 140,000.

Net migration hit a record high of 252,000 in 2010, although this was mainly due to a sharp fall in the number of Britons leaving the country rather than an increase in immigration.

To analyse the impact of migration on the labour market, the Institute's researchers compared the overseas nationals who were allocated national insurance numbers in an area with the number of people claiming the dole locally.

Case studies: immigrant success stories

"I came with nothing. Now I employ four people" - Datsa Gaile, 39, Northampton

In seven years I have gone from living in a single room, scouring the country for a job – to editing my own newspaper and employing people. When I came to live in the UK in 2006, a friend and I arranged accommodation and work with an agency in Latvia. But when we arrived in London there was nothing. We thought we would have to stay on the streets. I realised I had to do things for myself. I made a CV and got a job. Then I brought my children to the UK. In 2009 I began studying for a BA in business studies at Northampton. At university, I began a paper for the Latvian community. We print 10,000 copies per month.

"I don't believe I'm taking someone else's job" - Agata Wasziewicz-Schmidt Dos Santos, 29, interpreter, Newquay

My husband and I came here in 2008 from Poland. First I worked at Starbucks because I couldn't get work in languages, even though I speak Polish, Portuguese and English. As soon as I changed my email address to a less foreign name, I started getting invited to interviews. I don't believe I'm taking someone else's job, because there aren't many people who speak Polish and Portuguese. I give back to the community, by working in schools and hospitals. My husband owns a martial arts business. He trains other instructors – one of them is an unemployed Brit.

Independent

Paedophile still active within EDL leadership

2012-01-09T14:27:00.007Z

EDL paedophile and founding member, Richard Price

An English Defence League convicted paedophile is still active within the senior ranks of the EDL according to screenshots that have been released.

The organisation's original Facebook group with 15,000 members was hacked recently by ZHC Hacking company and a screenshot of the admin list was released,. One of the admins was Paul Lancashire and the other was Richard Price. Price was one of the founding members of the organisation.

Price was outed by the Sunday Times earlier last year after being convicted of processing indecent photographs of children and The EDL's leadership tried to cover it up. The organisation originally tried to claim he was not part of the EDL but soon backtracked when a previous statement by Tommy Robinson was found EDL Paedophile Michael Coates [pictured, right] contradicting this. He was also convicted of possession of cocaine and crack cocaine. Price was banned from owning a computer for a year, given a three-year community supervision order and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Price recently contacted EDL News to claim he was innocent and the only reason he pleaded guilty was so he would be quietly put on the sex offenders register without anyone finding out about his charges.

The EDL have spent a lot of their time demonstrating against Asian only paedophiles with several demonstrations in Blackpool against Asian takeaway workers who they claimed murdered Charlene Downes. After a failed court case the police have failed to provide any link with any Asian gangs.

ZHC have destroyed the EDL's presence on social networking groups. In June last year they took their main 100,000 members page and many of their regional divisional pages. Their new page is struggling to get more than 2,000 members with many of those being trolls, antifa, journalists and security services.

The far right organisation have had further paedophile scandals since with the recent jailing of Michael Coates aka Mickey Blueeyes and Brett Moses who was convicted of trying to groom a 13 year old Canadian schoolgirl after travelling to meet her.

Click on image for full-size

With thanks to ZHC Hacking Crew and Paul Stearnes

EDL News

Clarkson in new race row

2012-01-09T08:04:00.004Z

Gobby Jeremy Clarkson stormed into another race row last night after making fun of drowned Chinese cockle pickers.

And his latest outburst came after the Daily Star Sunday discovered he had posed for a snap with the leader of the racist English Defence League.

The 51-year-old was slammed after joking about dead Chinese immigrants in his regular newspaper column. He tastelessly compared synchronised swimmers to the 21 cockle pickers who were killed in rising tides in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, in 2004.

The Top Gear presenter was last night branded “out of touch” by anti-racism groups. Matt Collins, from Hope Not Hate, said: “Why does Jeremy Clarkson constantly have to be so tasteless and offensive? He is not funny and all he proves is that he is out of touch with modern Britain and that he belongs in the Dark Ages. He has no right to offend communities in this country who live and work here and provide more to Britain than he does.”

The latest outrage came as a picture of Clarkson and far-right English Defence League head Stephen Lennon emerged. Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, claims he talked about Islam with Clarkson.

The 28-year-old convicted thug, who also founded the anti-Islamic movement, said: “He knew who I was. We talked about Islam. I don’t want to say anything else because he will just get stitched up. But I’m a big fan of him.”

The picture is thought to have been taken in September outside a pub in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, where EDL members were holding a meeting.

But last night Jeremy Clarkson said he did not have a clue who Lennon was. He told the Daily Star Sunday: “I have no recollection of talking to this man and have no idea who Stephen Lennon is.”

This is the latest in a long line of scandals involving the TV car fanatic. Before the New Year Clarkson was accused of mocking Indian culture in a Top Gear Christmas special. More than 20 viewers complained to the BBC after he made a series of controversial remarks about the country’s clothing, trains, food and history. At one point Clarkson rode around the country’s worst slums in a Jaguar with a toilet fitted to the boot, joking: “This is perfect because everyone here gets the trots.”

That furore followed an incident on BBC’s The One Show when Clarkson claimed striking public workers should be “executed in front of their families”.

Lennon has previously posed with glamour girl Katie Price and bad boy footballer Joey Barton and claimed that they had joined his group. But both Price and Barton were quick to deny any links with the EDL and claimed they had no idea who Lennon was.

Lennon was convicted of assault in November after headbutting a member of his group during a rally in Blackburn, Lancashire. And in July he was found guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour during a football brawl in August 2010

Star

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

The BNP's little hidey-hole

2012-01-08T19:30:00.000Z

Watch it full-screen - it's better

A few weeks ago, one of our readers asked if anyone had ever actually seen the BNP's Wigton office - the centre of its activities. My reply was that yes, we had taken a very brief look a few months ago, and were not overly impressed. Much to our surprise, a number of readers wanted to see the (very) short piece of film we took at the time.

Fair enough. The film though, doesn't er, show the whole picture, so to speak. The industrial estate which houses both the BNP's storage unit/office and Nick Griffin's official NW office as MEP, is tucked away at the edge of Wigton, a tiny and attractive little market town deep in the heart of Cumbria. It is believed that Griffin only managed to get the two units on the estate because one of the people who works in management happens to be one of his entourage - or at least used to be. In common with most of Griffin's chums, she seems to have fallen out with him recently.

We made two visits to the industrial estate; one at about 10.30am, when both units were closed, and the other sometime after lunch, when almost everyone in the BNP seemed to have woken up or sobered up and arrived to do something. As we drove into the gated estate, we were very aware that we were closely watched by at least four people: two outside Griffin's office, one directly ahead of us and another opposite the office. The latter two are not shown on the film.

We drove around the corner into a stretch of empty units. To be honest, more units were empty than were occupied and frankly the industrial estate looked like it was on its last legs (which is probably why it allowed Griffin and his ever-dwindling party to establish a base there).

As you can see from the film, we were treated to a glimpse of Clive Jefferson's crappy old Jaguar (still using the illegal number plate, are you, Clive?) and even spotted Porky himself getting something out of his car. As you watch the film, the BNP's centre of operations is on the left, and Griffin's NW MEP base is on the right - the building with the two bodyguards outside. Quite why Porky needs bodyguards, we've never fathomed. Apart from a pint of beer and an egg being thrown at him (separately), he's never been at risk of attack, despite his constant claims of violent anti-fascists always being on the lookout for him.

Because his mob ARE a bunch of violent freaks and psycho's, we didn't hang around, particularly when we realised that the camera had obviously been spotted.

So there you have it. The centre of the BNP's operations happens to be a couple of small industrial units on a run-down industrial estate in the middle of, well, not nowhere, because Wigton's actually a pretty nice place, but certainly nowhere significant. The main question I'd like to ask is why doesn't the MEP for the North West have an office in a place where he can be easily visited by the public whom he was elected to serve? Is he afraid to meet the voters? I think you know the answer to that one.

The EDL's Dick of the Week

2012-01-08T03:21:00.005Z

Click on image for full-size

And this week, he's a real dick being one Richard Rovetto, of Nottingham EDL. Well done, Dick!

Cheers to Everything EDL for the pic

Man arrested over alleged abuse of Oldham footballer Tom Adeyemi

2012-01-08T03:18:00.003Z

Tom Adeyemi was visibly upset after the incident at Anfield

Police investigating an incident of alleged racist abuse by fans at Anfield towards Oldham Athletic defender Tom Adeyemi have arrested a man.

An investigation was launched after Friday night's Liverpool v Oldham FA Cup third-round game. Merseyside Police said a 20-year-old man from Aintree, Merseyside, was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. The man is being held in custody and being interviewed by detectives.

The game was stopped briefly while Adeyemi - on loan from Norwich - alerted referee Neil Swarbrick to the incident.

On Saturday evening, Liverpool issued a statement, saying: "Liverpool Football Club continue to work closely with Merseyside Police to establish all the facts surrounding the incident that occurred during last night's game. We take this matter extremely seriously and have today provided the police with the evidence we currently have available to us."

The incident compounds a difficult few weeks for Liverpool, who were without Luis Suarez for the match against the Oldham as the striker serves an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra at Anfield in October.

BBC

Man accused of Collymore race abuse

2012-01-08T03:16:00.002Z

Stan Collymore

A 21-year-old man has been charged with racially abusing ex-Premier League star and football pundit Stan Collymore on Twitter.

Northumbria Police said Joshua Cryer, of Jesmond, Newcastle, is charged with "a Section Five racial public order offence and a Section Five public order offence". The force spokesman said Cryer would appear before Newcastle magistrates on Monday January 23.

Northumbria Police began an investigation in the early hours of Saturday after an allegation was passed on from colleagues in Staffordshire.

Collymore, 40, originally from Cannock, Staffordshire, played for a string of top clubs, including Liverpool, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. He works as a broadcaster for talkSport and campaigns against racism and is a supporter of charity the Depression Alliance.

Observer

Race rant Camden Road manhunt by police

2012-01-07T00:24:00.003Z

A man who racially abused two children and punched a wheelchair– bound man in the head is being hunted by police.

A 53-year-old disabled man was waiting at the bus stop opposite Kwik Fit on Camden Raod, Holloway, at around 2.15pm on October 4 when he saw a suspect racially abusing two Asian school children.

When the disabled man, who is also Asian, got on the bus the suspect then approached him and began to shout racist abuse. The victim pushed him away but the suspect punched him in the head. He continued his racist tirade before delivering a final blow and jumping off the bus near Holloway Prison.

The suspect is a tanned white man, about 40-years-old, clean shaven with short dark hair and a medium build. When he made the attack he was wearing a black suit jacket and dark coloured trousers. He also spoke with a mock West Indian accent.

Police ask anyone with information to call Pc Rachel Hallam on 0207 421 0296 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

London 24

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Calls grow for ban on Vergès

2012-01-06T15:40:00.001Z

The Jewish Chronicle has reported Searchlight’s campaign to ban the visit of Jacques Vergès to London, where he has been invited to take part in a debate at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

The paper reports that Mike Freer MP, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, hopes to raise the visit of French-Vietnamese lawyer Jacques Vergès with Home Secretary Theresa May.

Others are adding their voices to the campaign. A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust, which represents and advises the Jewish community on security and antisemitism, said: “It is hard to see how Jacques Vergès’ record of defending Nazis, Holocaust Deniers, mass murderers and terrorists can contribute anything worthwhile to a debate on international justice. This invitation smacks of the kind of attention-seeking sensationalism that can only damage the reputation of an institution like SOAS.”

And Karen Pollock, Chief Executive, Holocaust Educational Trust told Searchlight: “It seems perverse that any prestigious institution would welcome Jacques Vergès, a notorious figure, who over the decades has defended Nazi war criminals and Holocaust deniers with apparent relish – and whose extremely controversial views would surely undermine any serious academic debate.”

More information here

Searchlight

Three men sentenced over arson attack on Sussex mosque

2012-01-06T15:37:00.002Z

James Everley, James Smith and Joshua Morris were sentenced to three years for the arson attack

Three men have been sentenced for an arson attack on a newly-renovated mosque in West Sussex.

James Everley, 20, of Crawley, James Smith, 20, of Burgess Hill, and Joshua Morris, 20, of Haywards Heath, were all sentenced to three years at a young offenders institute.

The fire at the mosque in Wivelsfield Road, Haywards Heath, was started at about 02:10 GMT on 13 February. Police believe the attack was a religiously-aggravated hate crime.

The men had pleaded guilty at Hove Crown Court to arson, theft of paraffin and a public order offence, which involved racially or religiously aggravated fear of violence.

Ch Insp Jon Hull, district commander for Mid Sussex, said: "The mosque was occupied at the time this fire was started and it could have had devastating consequences if it hadn't been put out quickly. Thankfully only damage was caused to the building.

"Everyone who lives, works or visits Sussex has a right to go about their lives without becoming the victim of a hate crime because of their disability, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or gender identity."

The mosque had been renovated and had reopened three months before the attack.

BBC

MP Diane Abbott 'sorry' over Twitter race comments

2012-01-06T15:32:00.002Z

Abbot's tweet as it appears on Twitter

Shadow Health Minister Diane Abbott has apologised for any offence caused by comments she made on Twitter, after claims they were racist.

She said she had not meant to generalise when she wrote: ''White people love playing 'divide & rule'".

It was a response to criticism of media use of "black community leaders" after the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. Labour's Chuka Umunna said party leader Ed Miliband had told Ms Abbott her remarks were "unacceptable".

In a statement, Ms Abbott said: "I apologise for any offence caused. I understand people have interpreted my comments as making generalisations about white people. I do not believe in doing that."

'Out of context'

Ms Abbott, the first black woman to be elected as an MP, had earlier tweeted that her remark had been "taken out of context".

Shadow Business Secretary Mr Umunna told the BBC: "Ed Miliband has spoken to her this morning and made it very clear in no uncertain terms that the contents of the tweet were unacceptable. If Diane believed the words as they were expressed and she had not apologised then Ed Miliband would obviously have taken the requisite action. For us as politicians, Twitter is a very useful tool to communicate with people, but it has its perils."

The original remark from Ms Abbott was a reaction to a conversation on Twitter about media coverage in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. It was a response to journalist Bim Adewunmi, who complained about the use of the terms "the black community" and "black community leaders" in the media.

Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Ms Abbott, who stood for Labour leader in the 2010 contest, remarked: "White people love playing 'divide & rule'. We should not play their game" followed by "#tacticasoldascolonialism" - a way Twitter users flag up keywords and topics.

She added: "Ethnic communities that show more public solidarity & unity than black people do much better."

The comments sparked much criticism from other Twitter users and she updated her page later to say: "Tweet taken out of context. Refers to nature of 19th Century European colonialism. Bit much to get into 140 characters." The original remark was later removed.

In a statement, the Labour Party said: "We disagree with Diane's tweet. It is wrong to make sweeping generalisations about any race, creed, or culture. The Labour Party has always campaigned against such behaviour - and so has Diane Abbott."

'Great history'

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Ms Abbott's comments on twitter were a "stupid and crass generalisation" and that she should apologise and explain her remarks.

Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 5 live: "This is racism. If this was a white member of Parliament saying that all black people want to do bad things to us he would have resigned within the hour or be sacked. For a shadow minister to hold these sort of views is intolerable, it is wrong, she needs to go."

Another Conservative MP, Rehman Chishti, told BBC Radio 4's World at One the comments were "completely unacceptable" and amounted to "a racist comment".

"If there was a strong leader in the Labour Party he would have taken further action against that."

However another Conservative MP, Robert Halfon wrote on Twitter: "The Right should know better than to get all PC re @HackneyAbbott - disagree strongly, but let voters decide. Freedom of speech & all that."

But she was supported by the senior Labour MP Keith Vaz, who told the BBC she was doing an "excellent job" as shadow public health minister and had a "great history of supporting the anti-racism struggle".

"She's done the right thing in withdrawing her statement and apologising for the offence that's been caused."

BBC

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

The EDL on the Stephen Lawrence trial

2012-01-05T05:45:00.007Z

Click on images for full-size

Here's a screenshot taken during the trial. And these EDL morons supposedly represent the English?

Cheers to Everything EDL for the screenshot and Tweeta for the heads-up

Women to face trial for assault

2012-01-04T20:12:00.001Z

TWO women who have denied a religiously-motivated assault on a Kurdish woman at a city centre takeaway will face trial later this year.

Hayley Wells, aged 27, and Kelly Watterson, aged 29, both appeared at Plymouth Crown Court on the joint charge of religiously aggravated common assault on Sawda Kurdo at the Istanbul Kebab shop in Exeter Street on August 31 last year.

Wells of Shell Close, Leigham and Watterson, of St Peter's Road, Manadon, pleaded not guilty to the joint charge.

Both also pleaded not guilty to the joint charge of affray in connection with the same incident.

Wells and Watterson were released on conditional bail to appear for trial at Plymouth Crown Court on June 27.

They must not go within 100 metres of the takeaway.

This is Plymouth

EDL thug who abused police at Telford protest faces £685 bill

2012-01-04T16:10:00.003Z

An English Defence League supporter who chanted ‘You’re not English any more’ at a police officer during a protest in Telford has been convicted of using threatening behaviour.

Myles Bradley Davies, 19, of Melton Mews, Whitchurch, had denied using words or behaviour likely to cause alarm or distress in Wellington on August 13, but he was found guilty after a trial at Telford magistrates court.

He was fined £50 and ordered to pay £620 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Magistrates took no action on a breach of a conditional discharge imposed for an offence of assault causing actual bodily harm, also in August.

The court yesterday heard that Davies had been on the Shrewsbury-bound platform at Wellington railway station after attending an EDL march.

After a disturbance broke out between EDL supporters and police on the opposite platform, Davies crossed the station bridge and tried to get onto the platform.

Davies admitted he had directed a chant of ‘You’re not English any more’ at a police officer in front of him.

Mr Steve Scully, for Davies, had argued that there was no case to answer because the only people on the station were EDL supporters and police officers, and they would not have been alarmed or distressed.

Shropshire Star

'Anonymous' declares 'Blitzkrieg' on neo-Nazis

2012-01-04T01:29:00.003Z

“Anonymous” hackers have declared “Blitzkrieg” on neo-Nazis for the New Year, disabling a number of their websites and publishing lists of extreme-right supporters.

A “Nazi-Leaks” portal has appeared on the internet listing hundreds of names of people subscribed to various shops selling far-right clothing, as well as writers for the Junge Freiheit newspaper which carries contributions from far-right commentators. The hackers say they have managed to close down 15 websites associated with the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD), the Frankfurter Rundschau reported on Monday. They have reportedly called their campaign "Operation Blitzkrieg".

The paper said that the German version of the neo-Nazi internet platform “Altermedia” was at times offline. A Twitter message addressed to those trying to get into the site wished “all Nazis and in particular Altermedia a good start to the New Year.”

This was greeted by a message reported by left-wing websites as coming from Altermedia calling for information about the hackers, and offering to reward useful tips with the hackers' “amputated fingers.” The Frankfurter Rundschau said it could not check whether the comment was really from Altermedia as the site was offline.

Long lists of names, some with addresses, purporting to be customer registers of firms such as the infamous Thor Steinar clothing firm were posted on the “Nazi-Leaks” portal.

People listed on the portal as having written for the Junge Freiheit newspaper included Peter Scholl-Latour, according to the Frankfurter Rundschau. He is a respected journalist and Afghanistan expert who has written for, among other publications, the Stern magazines.

The Local

Thanks to Anon for the heads-up

Humberside Police Seek two EDL Members

2012-01-04T01:25:00.004Z

Humberside Police are seeking two EDL members, who are wanted in connection with racially aggravated criminal damage at a takeaway in Paragon Square following the two-minute silence on Remembrance Sunday.

The two men were captured on CCTV after they attended an English Defence League rally on Remembrance Sunday. It is believed the two men smashed a till at a takeaway in Paragon Square because they believed staff at the food outlet had been serving customers during the two-minute silence.

Det Sgt Cross said: “I would urge people to take a look at these unsolved case files, and, if they know who any of the suspects are, then they should contact us. We can be discrete, and understand people may need to remain anonymous.”

Do you recognise any of the suspects featured here? If so, call detectives in Hull on 01482 578025, quoting the corresponding reference number. Alternatively, e-mail officers at SPOCSCTDDiv@humberside.pnn.police.uk or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Link

Hull Division's admin appear to know the identity of the two men, since this was posted on their Facebook wall.

EDL News

Thanks to everyone who sent in the link to this article and Crimestoppers

Stephen Lawrence murder: Dobson and Norris guilty

2012-01-03T15:09:00.001Z

Two men have been convicted of the racist murder of black London teenager Stephen Lawrence 18 years after the attack.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence.

Scientists found a tiny blood stain on Dobson's jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence.

As he was led away, he told the jury they had condemned an "innocent man". Sentencing will be on Wednesday.

Stephen's parents, Doreen and Neville, wept in court as the jury found both men guilty. Duwayne Brooks, Stephen's best friend who had been with him on the night of the murder, tweeted: "Some justice at last".

Gary Dobson's mother, who told the trial her son was at home during the attack, wept in the public gallery of Court 16.

The original failed investigation led to the Metropolitan Police being branded as institutionally racist.

Stephen Lawrence was 18 when he was stabbed to death near a bus stop in Eltham, south London, in April 1993. Police identified five men who were later named in a damning public inquiry as the "prime suspects".

By that time there had already been a catalogue of police errors and two failed prosecutions, one brought by Stephen's parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence.

But in a four-year-long cold case review, a fresh team of forensic scientists uncovered microscopic evidence linking the men to the murder - evidence that the police had held all along.

The material - blood stains, clothing fibres and a single hair belonging to the teenager - were recovered from the clothes of the suspects which had been seized in 1993.

Scientists recovered the material using advanced techniques which were not available to the original case scientists.

Stephen Lawrence was attacked by a group of white youths in south-east London
Dobson, 36, and Norris, 35, denied the murder. They said their clothing had been contaminated as police mixed up evidence down the years. Detectives spent months establishing the movements and handling of the exhibits since 1993 - and the jury were told that contamination was implausible.

Gary Dobson was jailed in 2010 for drugs trafficking. He is among a small number of men to have been tried twice for the same crime after the Court of Appeal quashed his 1996 acquittal for the murder.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Panorama, Stephen's mother Doreen Lawrence said: "I don't forgive the boys who killed Stephen. They don't think they have done anything wrong.

"They took away Stephen's life and there is nothing in their behaviour or anything to show they they regret what their actions have done and the pain it has caused us as a family."

Acting Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who ordered the 2006 cold case review that led to the convictions, said the case had been extremely important for the Lawrence family, the Metropolitan Police and society at large.

She said: "It's a matter of huge regret to the Met that it has taken 18 years to get to this point.

"It has been a unique case in policing. Firstly the horrible, horrible nature of the attack on the night. The time in which it has taken to bring anybody to justice and the tireless campaigning of the Lawrences.

"There is no comparable case. All homicide cases are terrible, but for us it is a very important case. Most importantly we wanted to be able to bring people to justice for the killing and try to give Doreen and Neville Lawrence and their family some sense of justice."

BBC News

The EDL and Anuj Bidve

2012-01-03T06:24:00.003Z

Click on image for full-size

You probably don't want the EDL's opinions on the racially-motivated murder of Anuj Bidve, but here they are anyway.

Cheers to Everything EDL for the pic and Tweeta for the heads-up

Student murder charge man in court

2012-01-03T06:22:00.002Z

A man calling himself "Psycho" is to appear before a Crown Court judge accused of the Boxing Day murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve.

Kiaran Stapleton, 20, from Ordsall, Salford, replied "Psycho Stapleton" when asked to give his name as he stood in the dock at City of Manchester Magistrates' Court on Monday. He was remanded in custody overnight to appear at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday. Stapleton was arrested last Thursday and charged with Mr Bidve's murder on Sunday.

Mr Bidve, 23, described as a "promising and clever" student, was shot once in the head at around 1.30am on December 26. He died a short time later in hospital. He was with a group of fellow Indian students visiting Manchester for Christmas when he was murdered as the group walked through the Ordsall district of Salford, heading for Manchester city centre.

The apparently motiveless killing has generated national and international shock, especially in the victim's home country.

Two officers from Greater Manchester Police have flown to India to meet Subhash Bidve, the victim's father. He found out about his son's death on Facebook at home in Pune, India, before police in the UK could contact him.

Mr Bidve was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University, coming to the UK in September after completing an electronics degree at Pune University.

On Monday night, hundreds of people attended a candlelit memorial service for Mr Bidve at the scene where he was gunned down in Ordsall Lane, while a peace march was held for him in New Delhi, finishing outside the British Embassy.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved

Jeremy Clarkson accused of racism over India jibes on Top Gear Christmas special

2011-12-31T06:00:00.003Z

Click on image for full-size

Jeremy Clarkson has found himself at the centre of an alleged racism row after appearing to mock Indian culture during the Top Gear Christmas special.

The outspoken TV presenter mouthed off about the country’s food, clothing, toilets, trains and history in a series of ‘Carry On’ style jibes. The 51-year-old host prompted a flood of complaints as he was shown stripping his trousers off and claiming he used a trouser press to heat naan bread. He then mocked the country’s sanitary conditions by driving around slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet, joking: “This is perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots.”

A BBC spokeswoman confirmed that they have already received eight complaints accusing the show of racism. She reportedly said: “If viewers or religious groups want to complain, they can complain to the BBC. We won’t be responding through the media.”

The racism row set Twitter on fire as furious viewers branded Clarkson a “Nazi” and condemned the show’s “casual racism”. One viewer posted: “Just watched top gear India Special. A new low for the bbc. Sickeningly base. Borderline racist stereotyping. And just not very good.”

Another added: “Whats wrong with the BBC that they think casual racist stereotyping is acceptable on top gear?”

The BBC has also been slammed after it aired the programme on Wednesday, just two days after the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford. Raj Dhutta, of Manchester Indian Association, reportedly said: “The Manchester community is in shock at the murder of Anuj, and this was tasteless timing. The show itself was also tasteless. These are perceptions that shouldn’t be picked up anywhere.”

The Top Gear presenters also found themselves in trouble with stunts on board Indian trains. Clarkson and co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May attached banners to the trains which read “British IT is good for your company” and “Eat English muffins”. However when the carriages split, the banners ripped to reveal rude messages.

Earlier this year Top Gear was embroiled in another racism row when Richard Hammond, 42, branded Mexicans “lazy”, “feckless” and “flatulent” when comparing the country to a Mexican sports car.

Mirror

Anyone remember Charlotte Lewis?

2011-12-30T22:25:00.004Z

Click on image for full-size

Does anyone remember the ghastly Charlotte Lewis, former BNP and now doyen of the even smaller British Freedom mob? As you can see, she's still as bad as ever.

Anuj Bidve shooting treated as hate crime by police

2011-12-30T15:56:00.000Z

Anuj Bidve, a student at Lancaster University,
was shot dead in Salford on Boxing Day. Photograph: GMP/PA

Indian student shot dead on Boxing Day may have been victim of a racist hate crime, say detectives

The murder of an Indian student who was shot in the head at point-blank range on Boxing Day is being treated as a suspected racist hate crime, police have revealed. Micro-electronics postgraduate Anuj Bidve, was murdered in the early hours of 26 December as he made his way with nine friends from his hotel in Salford to central Manchester to queue up early for Christmas sales.

Investigators say that although there is no specific evidence of the crime being racially motivated they are responding to those affected by the crime who believe it to be a hate crime.

Five people aged between 16 and 20 remain in police custody on suspicion of murder, including a 17-year-old who handed himself in to police on Tuesday evening, in what police have described as a fast-moving investigation. Police have found no previous link between 23-year-old Bidve and those involved in the killing, believed to be two white males, which took place at 1.35am.

The "straight-A" student from Pune, India who was studying at Lancaster University, had a "very short conversation" with the two males before a gun was drawn and aimed at Bidve's head. The gunman and his associate are thought to have fled to towards the Ordsall estate near the scene of another fatal shooting in September and which has been described by locals as rough. A Home Office pathologist has confirmed that Bidve died after suffering gun trauma to the head.

Police also said they were working with the Indian high commission and other agencies to help fly the victim's family from India to Manchester in the next few days.

Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan, divisional commander for Salford, said: "We have not established a clear motive for the senseless murder of Anuj, and there is no definitive evidence pointing to it being racially motivated. However, we are treating this as a hate crime based on the growing perceptions within the community it was motivated by hate.

"What I want to stress is that regardless of the motive, it does not change the way detectives from our major incident team are investigating this murder and from day one we have pursued every possible line of inquiry to identify who is responsible for this despicable crime, including CCTV trawls, detailed forensic and ballistic investigations, witness statements and house-to-house inquiries.

"Thanks to the work of staff across the whole of Greater Manchester police, we have made five arrests and all five remain in custody. I cannot comment for obvious reasons about the progress of the investigation but I would like to again take this opportunity to thank people in our community who have come forward and given us information. "

Police said they were duty bound to investigate crimes as hate crimes if they are reported as such. A police source added that the classification also allowed officers to pursue other avenues and leads which would not otherwise be open to them later on in the investigation.

Mulligan confirmed that no murder weapon has been recovered. "We really need that support to continue and I want to urge anyone who knows something to call us. As yet, we have not recovered the murder weapon and I want to implore people to be brave and come forward if they know the whereabouts of that weapon."

Dr Bharati Kar, the general secretary of the Greater Manchester Bengali and Hindu cultural association, said racism was far less of a problem now that it was two decades ago and that her own children had not reported any racist incidents to her recently. Kar said that she was very pleased that Greater Manchester police were taking the reports that the crime was racially motivated seriously.

"I'll be glad if the actual cause is discovered [along with] the killer," she said.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, local resident Susan Wilson, 57, said: "This lovely young man has come here to further his education and people whose lives revolve around violence have killed him. For this to happen in our neighbourhood is devastating and we're all very upset about it. It's like the whole country is looking at Ordsall now because of this. The area doesn't have a great reputation but we want people to know what's happened doesn't represent this area or the people living here."

Guardian

Thanks to the many readers who have sent this in

Mark Steel: Wife-beating? That's fine – unless you're a Muslim

2011-12-30T04:02:00.001Z

The Sun newspaper has come over a bit modest. Following a Channel 4 documentary about media reporting of Muslims, the paper accepts some of its stories were "distorted". But they're not doing themselves justice. They weren't distorted – they were entirely made up. For example, a story about a Muslim bus driver who ordered his passengers off the bus so he could pray was pure fabrication.

But if reporters are allowed to make up what they like, that one should be disciplined for displaying a shocking lack of imagination. He could have continued, "The driver has now won a case at the Court of Human Rights that his bus route should be altered so it only goes east. This means the 37A from Sutton Coldfield will no longer stop at Selly Oak library, but go the wrong way up a one-way street and carry on to Mecca. Local depot manager Stan Tubworth said, 'I suggested he only take it as far as Athens but he threatened a Jihad, and a holy war is just the sort of thing that could put a service like the Selly Oak Clipper out of business'."

Then there was a story about "Muslim thugs" in Windsor who attacked a house used by soldiers, except it was another invention. But with this tale the reporter still claims it's true, despite a complete absence of evidence, because, "The police are too politically correct to admit it." This must be the solution to all unsolved crimes. With Jack the Ripper it's obvious – he was facing the East End of London, his victims were infidels and he'd have access to a burqua which would give him vital camouflage in the smog. But do the pro-Muslim police even bother to investigate? Of course not, because it's just "Allah Allah Allah" down at the stations these days.

Maybe Muslim newspapers should retaliate by publishing their own made-up stories. So it will be reported that "Barmy PC teachers in Leicester have banned children from playing Noughts and Crosses, claiming the cross reminds Church of England kiddies of the suffering undertaken by Lord Jesus. A spokesman for the Board of Education said, 'We have to be sensitive. Which is why we've replaced the game with 'Noughts and Hexagons'. We did look into calling it 'Noughts and Crowns of Thorns' but decided Hexagons was more appropriate."

Or, "Doctors have been told that patients are no longer to be referred to as 'stable', as this is offensive to followers of Jesus, who was said to have been born in one. So medical staff have been informed they must use an alternative word, or if they can't think of one just let the patient die."

The most common justification for ridiculing Islam is that the religion is "backward", particularly towards women, as a fundamental part of its beliefs. The Sun's old political editor suggests this as a defence of his newspaper's stance, saying that under Islam, "women are treated as chattels". And it's true that religious scriptures can command this, such as the insistence that, "a man may sell his daughter as a slave, but she will not be freed at the end of six years as men are." Except that comes from the Bible – Exodus, Chapter 21, verse 7.

The Bible is packed with justifications for slavery, including killing your slaves. So presumably the Sun, along with others who regard Islam as a threat to our civilisation, will soon be campaigning against "Sunday Schools of Hate" where children as young as seven are taught to read this grisly book. And next Easter they'll report how, "I saw a small child smile with glee as he opened a Cadbury's egg filled with chocolate buttons. But behind his grin I couldn't help but wonder whether he wanted to turn me into a pillar of salt, then maybe sprinkle me on his menacing confectionary treat."

In his defence of making stuff up, the Sun's ex-political editor spoke about the amount of domestic violence suffered by Muslim women. But there's just as much chance of suffering domestic violence if you're not a Muslim, as one of the 10 million such incidents a year that take place in Britain. Presumably the anti-Islam lobby would say, "Ah yes, but those other ones involve secular wife-beating, which is not founded on archaic religious customs, but rational reasoning such as not letting him watch the snooker."

And finally the Sun's man defends the line of his paper by saying that, after all, these Muslims "are trying to bomb our country". So it's their civic duty to make stuff up – the same as keeping a look-out for spies during the Second World War.

So we should all do our bit, and every day send in something, until the press is full of stories like "Muslims in Darlington have been raising money for semtex by organising panda fights." Or "In Bradford all nurseries have been ordered to convert their dolls' houses into miniature mosques so that Muslim teddies have somewhere to pray."

Independent

Thanks to Anon for the heads-up

EDL leader in lay-by attack

2011-12-29T00:52:00.004Z

POLICE have launched an investigation after English Defence League leader Stephen Lennon was violently assaulted in a lay-by outside Luton.

Mr Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, says he was driving along the A6 at about 2am last Thursday (Dec 22) when he pulled over after another car, a black Vauxhall Zafira, flashed its lights at him.

When he got out of the car he was attacked by three men, with the beating only coming to an end when a ‘good Samaritan’ stopped at the scene, he said.

Mr Lennon, who runs a tanning salon in Luton, said:

“I was on my way back from Dunstable and near Streatley I noticed the car flashing me.

“I pulled over and got out. The car was being driven by a girl and three lads jumped out and I took a beating.

“As soon as I got out the passenger leapt out and I could tell straight away what was going to happen.

“I started fighting back and then the other two got out.

“The geezer that pulled over to help me said one of them had a pole but I didn’t see anything. But the hospital said the injuries looked like they’d been caused by a blunt object.”

Mr Lennon drove to Bedford Hospital where he was given a CT scan, which revealed bruising on his brain. He was released later the same day.

“I didn’t want to go to hospital but the guy that helped me kept insisting that I had to go,” he said. “They had knocked me out when he arrived – he said if he hadn’t pulled over they would probably have carried on.

“I’ve never had a kicking like it. I had to go home to my kids looking like that.”

Mr Lennon said claims on an anti-EDL website that the attack had been faked or had been carried out by football hooligans were “pathetic” and had been fabricated by people who had been kicked out of the EDL for being too right-wing.

He described his attackers as being of Asian appearance and said they were wearing jeans and bomber jackets, with one wearing a checked scarf.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said it was as yet unclear what the motive for the attack was.

They appealed for any witnesses to come forward, including the good Samaritan, saying: “He was driving a silver Ford Mondeo and was called John or Jonathan.

“The officer investigating this case is Det Con Tom Hamm, contactable direct on 01582 473322. He would like to hear from John or anyone who knows who John is.

Luton Today

EDIT
I was going to write an article outlining the differences in the various statements that Lennon has put out but these following comments save me the job.

Anonymous said...

So many discrepancies

1) Where's the official statement about the knuckle dusters ? It seems they turned magically into a rod

2) Why didnt he mention this imaginary Samaritan when he initially made the bullshit statement to the EDL ?

3) Why no mention to the police of his vivid imagination thinking the girl in the car was his wife ?

4) The EDL and the BFP made a statement saying the police are treating it a racially motivated crime..... the police havent said anything of the sort

The liar lennon has cried wolf way to many times..... no one fooking believes him anymore.... not even his own ever shrinking flock

Thanks Anon.

Council suspends worker linked to Norway gunman

2011-12-28T19:17:00.002Z

A council worker has been suspended following a Sunday Times investigation into a network of far-right groups.

Chris Knowles, who is employed by the children’s services department at Leeds city council, has been questioned over his links to the English Defence League (EDL) and a website featuring anti-Muslim content.

Knowles has been accused by Paul Ray, a former senior EDL figure, of operating under an alias to disguise his controversial views. He has been using the name “Aeneas Lavinium” on Facebook and other websites linked to Anders Breivik, the Norwegian gunman who massacred 69 people in summer.

Last week Oslo police confirmed for the first time that Breivik travelled to Britain at least twice — in May 2002 and December 2003.

The gunman has claimed in his 1,600-page “manifesto” that during a trip to London in 2002 he met an English “mentor” who inducted him into a modern-day version of the Knights Templar Order. Police, however, have no evidence to verify this claim.

Ray says that Knowles attended a meeting in July 2009 at which members of the EDL were introduced to key ideological figures in the so-called “counter-jihad” community. He was involved at the time with a right-wing organisation called the Centre for Vigilant Freedom (CVF), which used an address in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, for correspondence. Another member of the organisation was Ann Marchini, a buy-to-let property tycoon who was revealed last weekend as an EDL backer.

The CVF is now part of the International Civil Liberties Alliance (ICLA) whose website includes many contributions from a writer called “Aeneas”. One article is about Fjordman, an anti-Islam blogger named 111 times by Breivik in his manifesto.

The site also features favourable items on the EDL and a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with an exploding bomb on his head.

When Knowles was asked if he was Aeneas, he said: “I’m not willing to confirm anything.”

Leeds council launched its probe after being shown the ICLA website. A spokeswoman said: “We take the allegations made by The Sunday Times very seriously and a member of staff has been suspended while we undertake a thorough investigation. If there has been any breach of the council’s policies or code of conduct we will take appropriate action.”

Additional reporting: Mark Lewis in Oslo

Sunday Times

EDL logic bypass...

2011-12-28T14:51:00.002Z

Click on image for full-size

EDL logic bypass: "Lets duff up this guy who nicked my photo..." "Yeah, I'd recognise his face anywhere!"

Cheers to Everything EDL for the screenshot

The 'non-racist' EDL 'Dreaming of a White Christmas'.

2011-12-27T04:18:00.003Z

Click on image for full-size

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Happy Christmas to all our readers!

2011-12-25T01:55:00.003Z

An extremely Happy Christmas to all of our supporters who celebrate it and our very best wishes to those who don't (except the EDL, who we hope have a piss-poor Winterval). Whichever you are, let's all look forward to a great (and peaceful) 2012 for everyone. Special thanks from us here at Lancaster Unity to all our friends, fellow writers and readers who have contributed to our success during 2011. Your help and support has been very much appreciated.

We're taking a couple of days off while we sleep off the nut roast/turkey and sulk because Santa STILL hasn't brought the iPad despite all the hints, dammit. ;-)

Enjoy the holiday! We'll see you soon!

Cheers everyone
All at Lancaster Unity x

The Tommy Robinson beating fiasco appears to have been faked

2011-12-25T01:36:00.002Z

The English Defence League issued a statement yesterday claiming that their leader had been beaten up by a gang of Asians. Unfortunately the story has more holes in it than Hel Gower's tights with many 'patriots' refusing to buy it. In what appears to be another in a long line of crass publicity stunts, even his own football hooligan firm, the Luton Men in Gear (MIGS) don't believe it so EDL News is taking a look at the evidence (or lack of).

In a story reminiscent of the faked Kevin Karroll assassination attempt, the EDL released this statement via the Gates of Vienna blog.

He was out driving, when he saw a car similar to his wife’s, driven by a blond white girl. The other car flashed its lights so Tommy pulled over.

A group of Pakistani youths wearing knuckle dusters poured out. Tommy was knocked out pretty quickly, and they gave him a good kicking.

He looks pretty beaten up, but no bones were broken, and no eyes or teeth are missing. He had a brain scan this morning. We don’t know the results yet.

He has spoken to The Sun, who asked whether he had called the police. Tommy said there was no point, as a racial attack on a white guy was of no interest to them.

The first flaw in this story is the fact that he thought he had recognized his wife in an identical car to hers but failed to notice that there was also a gang of Asians in the car. The second being that if he had been beaten up by a gang of Asians with knuckle dusters, his injuries would have been significantly worse than the photos below suggest. He seems to have sustained heavy bruising and a bump on the head and that is about it. Third is his unwillingness to go to the police claiming they are not interested in cases of actual bodily harm which is quite clearly something he has made up as the police are obliged to investigate every case of ABH whether they are racially aggravated or not.

This lie is further outed by the fact that the East Anglia Division yesterday announced that the police are prosecuting two Asian men who allegedly attacked a female EDL Member at one of Tommy's court cases last year.

Tommy had no problem talking to the police in the summer when he got his picture in the paper for chasing a man who mugged an old lady. This whole fairytale story suggests that he was beaten by one of his own.

Even The Sun newspaper refused to run the story after they asked him if he went to the police and he said no.

These photos were issued, apparently of Tommy in his hospital bed.

The first photo appears to be taken in a hospital bed. The second photo suggests that it was taken at his home and liberal amounts of poorly applied blue eye shadow has been used to make his injuries look worse (or more silly) than those depicted in the first photo and a photoshopper seems to have gone over the top with the smudge tool and carried the bruise up towards his eyebrow.

There also appears a very precise bruise line above his left eye in the first photo. The whole thing looks fake.

Whilst quite clearly Tommy has a rather large lump on his forehead that could have quite easily have been obtained by stumbling into a wall after a heavy Stella Artois session in the Racist Parrot. (Whipperley Ring, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 5QX)

Tommy issued a follow up statement on Gates of Vienna:

Message from Tommy: "They were shouting ‘allahu akhbar’ and ‘Merry Christmas, Tommy’”.

Also: He had a C.T. scan, and apparently has “bruising of the brain”. He got out of hospital this afternoon.

he has brusing of the brain and they let him out that very same afternoon? Really.

The North West Infidels have heard a different story on the football hooligan grapevine which heavily suggests that Tommy walking around town thinking he owns the place earned him a beating from one of his own.

MIG member, Keith Chambers muddys the waters further by claiming he took the beating three weeks ago.

Other nationalist groups are also failing to buy into the story. (click to enlarge)

The English Defence League are falling foul of the 'boy who cried wolf' syndrome and each attempt to rile their members against Muslims is getting more and more ridiculous and transparent. Tommy has obviously taken a beating but it is much more likely to be one of his own than a vivacious blonde honey trapper in a car full of Muslims he did not see.

These events, including the attempted assassination attempt on Kev, always happen three days before a significant event on the calendar, whether that is Christmas, St Georges Day or a national demo. Each one have been proven to be utterly fake and have been quickly dropped by leadership.

Tommy has courted endless bad publicity over the last twelve months and members are getting sick of him. This latest attempt seems like a last ditch effort to unite the far right back under the EDL's wing and seems to have backfired spectacularly with few on the far right believing a word he says.

Donna Mortimer from the EDL's propaganda department has now openly called for violence towards Muslims which is a criminal offence in itself.

Many of the more savvy members of the EDL are starting to see through these ridiculous publicity stunts but the dimmer ones (which seem to represent a fair proportion of the EDL) have started foaming at the mouth and vowing revenge on Muslims in general which leads a dangerous precedent.

EDL News

Thanks to the many people who sent this in.

Coventry BNP charity leaflet campaign 'absurd'

2011-12-22T14:28:00.002Z

The British National Party has defended its decision to leaflet residents in Coventry, asking them to donate scrap metal to help "British" charities.

A BNP spokesman said they were merely addressing the issue of scrap merchants operating in the Coundon area.

Coventry North-West MP Geoffrey Robinson, who was contacted by one of his constituents about the leaflets, called it "an absurd proposition". Help For Heroes, named on the leaflet, said it was "strictly non-political".

Mark Baddrick, a BNP organiser in the city, said: "This is a local issue that concerns a lot of people... that they are really fed up with this trail of scrap vans trawling the streets."

Mr Baddrick admitted the party had not approached Help for Heroes but said they had done benefits for the charity before.

"We will approach them when we have raised some funds and if they decline the offer of a donation, that's entirely up to them."

Responding to the criticism, he added: "If they're really that concerned, why don't they address the issue we're trying to address instead of criticising our efforts."

Labour MP Mr Robinson, said he could "understand people being very upset" about the leaflet.

"What is the BNP trying to do? It's a political party. They should concentrate on those affairs. The idea they can can become conduit to charities is absurd."

Bryn Parry from Help for Heroes said: "We have no affiliation with any political party and do not endorse the use of our name for the promotion of any political viewpoint. The money we raise supports wounded servicemen and women of every colour and creed. We strongly oppose any individual or political party who believes we should act otherwise, and those who seek to use the charity's name for their own political gain."

Councillor Ed Ruane from the Labour-led Coventry City Council, said the authority had joined forces with the police to "see if this is legal and whether the BNP are licensed to trade in this manner".

BBC

Motherwell fans' sickening Nazi salutes at event to launch book on 'SS' hooligans

2011-12-22T09:41:00.003Z

Grinning fans did Nazi salutes outside an SPL ground to mark the launch of a book glorifying football hooligans.

The notorious Motherwell Saturday Service - who call themselves the “SS” - organised the stunt on the steps at Fir Park. Last night, club bosses were examining the sick images and discussing whether to launch an investigation.

The SS initially hired a room at Fir Park for the launch of the book Dressers. But club bosses got wind of it and cancelled the bash. The ragtag bunch still managed to hold the event at the independent Fir Park Social Club, opposite Motherwell FC’s ground. Around 140 of the group posed for photos on the steps outside the Phil O’Donnell stand, with some doing “sieg heil” salutes.

Motherwell FC stressed that the event took part in the social club, which has no links to the football club. A spokesman said: “We are trying to be Scotland’s premier family andcommunity club and we are trying to portray a message that this the club is all welcoming to everybody – families and children. We condemn football violence in the highest possible way.”

The club do not know if the people at the event were regular fans. The spokesman added: “We don’t know any of these people. Because it’s outside the ground, it makes itdifficult for us to do anything. People can walk up and do anything.”

The spokesman added that the event was booked simply as a “book launch”. He said: “The club found out what the book involved was and cancelled the booking and told them to seek alternative premises. That was in the middleof the week leading up to the event.”

The Motherwell SS were named in tribute to Hitler’s ruthless Schutzstaffel squad, who carried out some of the worst atrocities of World War II. SS is also the initials of the name given for the book’s author, Stanley Smith. Promotional blurb for the book brazenly tells how it “chronicles the rise of one of Scotland’s original football casual groups, pioneering the fashion that was to become central to the Saturday afternoon fracas in town centres and at football grounds all over Scotland”.

Fir Park Social Club did not respond to repeated requests to comment.

Daily Record

Thanks to Anon for the heads-up

Remove the England captaincy from John Terry

2011-12-22T09:36:00.002Z

Racism in football is back in the news this week with the eight match ban handed down to Liverpool’s Luis Suarez for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrick Evra and, today, the news that John Terry is facing criminal prosecution for allegedly racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand.

The Football Association is just as much in the dock as its reputation and credibility is scrutinised at home and abroad. The stakes were raised last month when the FA spoke out at the apparent indifference towards racism in football by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, after he claimed that racial abuse on the field could be dealt with by a handshake after the game.

The FA appear to have handled the Suarez case in accordance with the rules and appear only to have come to their judgement after much deliberation. It is sad that Suarez’s Liverpool team-mates and manager rallied round him without even slightest concern of his guilt. Wearing T-shirts in support of him undermines efforts to stamp out racism within the game. Let us just hope that at some stage in the future these same Liverpool players, who appear so quick to jump to Suarez’s defence, are not left annoyed with players of a rival team who rally round someone who has abused one of their own.

The John Terry incident raises even more serious questions. Obviously he is innocent until proven guilty, but it seems totally inappropriate for him to remain England captain whilst criminal charges hang over him. He was stripped of the captaincy after a Sunday newspaper exposed an extra-marital affair so it would only seem correct that he is once again forced to stand down as captain while charges of using racist language exist.

English football has done much to rid itself of racism over the last fifteen years and we can rightly boast to have the most pro-active national football association on this issue anywhere in Europe. The FA should act decisively over John Terry’s captaincy rather than be forced to act later under pressure. How can we seem to lecture other countries and FIFA if they fail to deal with this issue swiftly? If John Terry is found not guilty then he can regain the captaincy at some future date. If he has the interests of the game, and indeed the national team, at heart then he will also want to step aside as soon as possible.

Hope not hate

Leicestershire policeman's 'foul-mouthed rant on his Facebook page'

2011-12-21T18:13:00.002Z

A police officer is being investigated for allegedly posting foul mouthed and possibly racist material on his Facebook page.

The officer made the comments on his personal site but has fallen foul of his employer because he names the force in his biography at the top of his home page.

A selection of the posts, some of which date back to the beginning of the year, were sent to the Leicester Mercury anonymously. In one, the officer, who the Leicester Mercury is not naming, uses foul language about "foreigners", calling them "scum". Elsewhere he swears freely and refers to a "brilliant" shift which culminated in "fights in town".

A police spokeswoman said the matter was under investigation. The officer has not been suspended while the review is carried out.

A person who spotted the postings contacted the Mercury to complain, saying: "This person openly announces that he works for Leicestershire Constabulary, yet uses abusive language of the worst kind."

Ivan Stafford, chairman of Leicestershire Police Federation, said: "Officers have to be mindful that they are on duty and are representing the force 24 hours a day. Whatever they do, even if they think it is in a private arena, can be picked up and will affect people's perceptions of them and the force. Our advice to anyone using social networking sites is to think very carefully about everything they write."

Another officer, who has a personal Facebook account and also uses the social networking site Twitter regularly, said: "I post about the job from time to time because these sites are about staying in touch with friends – and a lot of my friends are police officers. But I'm always very careful what I say because this is in public. I've seen the posts that are being investigated and I can see why some people might be upset by some of them. But at one point he says he has worked a 17-hour shift, so I can understand fully why he might want to let off some steam from time to time."

The officer under investigation has since removed the reference to his employer in his Facebook biography. The comments that sparked the investigation can no longer be seen.

A force spokeswoman said: "We encourage officers to use social networking, but advise them to be careful what they put out on personal accounts."

This is Leicestershire

Infidels and their sick intentions

2011-12-21T11:07:00.010Z

John "Snowy" Shaw

One of our regular contributors has just forwarded us this screen grab of comments made on the NWI Fightback Facebook page.

NWI Fightback is one of the official Facebook pages belonging to the EDL splinter “The Infidels” led by John “Snowy” Shaw of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Shaw, Llama farmer, ex crack cocaine addict and petty thief broke away from the EDL following a number of disputes regarding the EDL’s direction along with accusations from both sides of financial wrongdoings.

Shaw has dragged “The Infidels” further and further to the extreme right, linking up with established right wing organisations such as the National Front and embracing anti Semitism and anti Catholic sentiment along the way.

One known associate of John Shaw is the one time London UDA chief Frank Portinari who was jailed for 5 years in 1994 for smuggling guns to the UDA/UFF.

The NWI Fightback page is controlled by Shaw’s ever faithful clown and lieutenant Shane Calvert of Blackburn. Calvert, who likes to be the centre of attention, regularly posts offensive comments, often posting links to far right websites. One such thread was posted yesterday and shows the chilling intentions of Shaw, Calvert and “The Infidels”.

We will be passing these grabs over to the relevant authorities.

Shane Calvert

Click on images for full-size

Hope not hate

An emphatic stand against racism in English football

2011-12-21T10:01:00.001Z

The men charged with one of the trickiest decisions in FA history were unequivocal

Negro or negrito, it doesn't really matter now. Sometimes it's not what you say so much as how you say it, and how many times you do so and the effect it is plainly having in the hair-trigger atmosphere of a match between such ferocious rivals as Liverpool and Manchester United. That certainly was the conclusion of the independent regulatory panel of three which last night accepted the allegations of Patrice Evra and banned Luis Suarez for eight matches.

As it did so it swept aside the sophistry of the brilliant Uruguayan's defence that he had done nothing worse than slip into a cultural divide, that what he said to an enraged opponent two months ago wouldn't have raised the eyebrow of a black compatriot back home in Montevideo.

It is the kind of argument which can hold up a court for some time – as it did in this minefield of a case which represented such a huge challenge to the nerve and the working morality of the rulers of the game in this country – but had it been accepted the chances of success in similar prosecutions in the future would have slumped to around zero.

There would have been a precedent for the niceties of one man's understanding of what might constitute a serious offence against the pride and the dignity of another. Instead, the judgement was that if Suarez had offended in a way that may have been subtler than when he bit an opponent in the Dutch league – and earned the nickname of the Cannibal of Ajax – he had still crossed an unacceptable line.

The implications are heavy for anyone who, had the outcome been different last night, might have been tempted to join in any regression to the days when racism was such a harsh reality in the English football.

Certainly, although John Terry denies the allegations, it might create a new level of tension for the Chelsea and England captain, who awaits the deliberations of the Crown Prosecution Service as it weighs the evidence in the charge of Anton Ferdinand that he too was a victim of racial abuse.

The adjudicating panel was led by QC Paul Goulding but it is hard not to believe that he received powerful underpinning from his colleague Denis Smith.

A magnificent centre-half for Stoke, and a manager who knew both success and failure, Smith went into the hearing under the bizarre suggestion that an old professional connection with Sir Alex Ferguson's son, Darren, might make him a less than impartial arbiter. For anyone who knew him, the theory might have been etched crudely in crayon rather than tweeted. Indeed, Smith's long, injury-strewn but superbly indefatigable involvement in the hard end of professional footballer made him eminently qualified to note the difference between nuances of language, and intention, and the realities of serious provocation and insult.

Even so the long days of deliberation suggest a near forensic examination of the claims and counter-claims. Surely, it had to be so.

That Evra had once had a similar charge to the one he made against Saurez rejected, and had evidence at another hearing categorised as "unreliable" no doubt emboldened Liverpool's defence of their outstanding player. It is also true that last night's verdict could easily have been shrouded in inconclusive platitudes and irresolute action.

Instead, the men charged with arguably one of the trickiest decisions in the history of FA discipline were unequivocal. Liverpool, predictably, are indignant and last night issued a powerful statement of rebuttal. From the tone of it, it would be surprising if they do not take advantage of the two-week suspension of Suarez's sentence which allows for an appeal.

Liverpool said the decision was extraordinary in that the issue had come down to the word of Evra against Saurez's and that their player had no record of racism, pointing out his mixed-race heritage. They also cited Evra's comment that he did not regard Saurez as a racist.

So what was the accusation against Saurez? It was one with which the panel concurred. He was guilty of misconduct and insulting behaviour and the use of racist language. You could translate that into some mild attempt at incitement to a loss of control in a player with whom you were engaged in a desperate battle for advantage. You could also say that in another context Saurez would have been guilty of nothing more than "cultural" clumsiness.

The decision was, however, much more emphatic. It said that Saurez had succeeded in inflaming his opponent in a calculated and unacceptable way. This could create an interminable argument about cause and effect but the gut instinct here is that a difficult but vital stand has been made. And, you may ask, against what precisely? Hopefully, it is the idea that racism, however it manifests itself, is in English football not consigned to the past.

Independent

The 'Iranian Schindler' who saved Jews from the Nazis

2011-12-21T09:53:00.004Z

Thousands of Iranian Jews and their descendants owe their lives to a Muslim diplomat in wartime Paris, according to a new book. In The Lion's Shadow tells how Abdol-Hossein Sardari risked everything to help fellow Iranians escape the Nazis.

Eliane Senahi Cohanim was seven years old when she fled France with her family. She remembers clutching her favourite doll and lying as still as she could, pretending to be asleep, whenever their train came to a halt at a Nazi checkpoint.

"I remember everywhere, when we were running away, they would ask for our passports, and I remember my father would hand them the passports and they would look at them. And then they would look at us. It was scary. It was very, very scary."

Mrs Cohanim and her family were part of a small, close-knit community of Iranian Jews living in and around Paris. Her father, George Senahi, was a prosperous textile merchant and the family lived in a large, comfortable house in Montmorency, about 25km (15.5 miles) north of the French capital.

'Trembling'

When the Nazis invaded, the Senahis attempted to escape to Tehran, hiding for a while in the French countryside, before being forced to return to Paris, now in the full grip of the Gestapo.

"I remember their attitude. The way they would walk with their black boots. Just looking at them at that time was scary for a child, I think," recalls Mrs Cohanim, speaking from her home in California.

Like others in the Iranian Jewish community, Mr Senahi turned for help to the young head of Iran's diplomatic mission in Paris. Abdol-Hossein Sardari was able to provide the Senahi family with the passports and travel documents they needed for safe-passage through Nazi-occupied Europe, a month-long journey that was still fraught with danger.

"At the borders, my father was always really trembling," recalls Mrs Cohanim but, she adds, he was a "strong man" who had given the family "great confidence that everything would be OK."
Unlikely hero

The 78-year-old grandmother has lived for the past 30 years in California with her husband Nasser Cohanim, a successful banker. Mrs Cohanim has no doubt to whom she and her younger brother Claude owe their lives.

"I remember my father always telling that it was thanks to Mr Sardari that we could come out. My uncles and aunts and grandparents lived there in Paris. It was thanks to him they weren't hurt. The ones that didn't have him, they took them and you never heard about them again."

Of Mr Sardari, she says: "I think he was like Schindler, at that time, helping the Jews in Paris."

Like Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who saved more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories, Sardari was an unlikely hero.
Nazi propaganda

In his book In the Lion's Shadow, author Fariborz Mokhtari paints a picture of a bachelor and bon viveur who suddenly found himself head of Iran's legation house, or diplomatic mission, at the start of World War II. Although officially neutral, Iran was keen to maintain its strong trading relationship with Germany. This arrangement suited Hitler. The Nazi propaganda machine declared Iranians an Aryan nation and racially akin to the Germans.

Iranian Jews in Paris still faced harassment and persecution and were often identified to the authorities by informers. In some cases, the Gestapo was alerted when newborn Jewish boys were circumcised at the hospital. Their terrified mothers were ordered to report to the Office of Jewish Affairs to be issued with the yellow patches Jews were forced to wear on their clothes and to have their documents stamped with their racial identity.

But Sardari used his influence and German contacts to gain exemptions from Nazi race laws for more than 2,000 Iranian Jews, and possibly others, arguing that they did not have blood ties to European Jewry. He was also able to help many Iranians, including members of Jewish community, return to Tehran by issuing them with the new-style Iranian passports they needed to travel across Europe.

A change of regime in Iran, in 1925, had led to the introduction of a new passport and identity card. Many Iranians living in Europe did not have this document, while others, who had married non-Iranians, had not bothered to get Iranian passports for their spouses or children.

When Britain and Russia invaded Iran in September 1941, Sardari's humanitarian task become more perilous. Iran signed a treaty with the Allies and Sardari was ordered by Tehran to return home as soon as possible.

Racial purity

But despite being stripped of his diplomatic immunity and status, Sardari resolved to remain in France and carry on helping the Iranian Jews, at considerable risk to his own safety, using money from his inheritance to keep his office going.

The story he spun to the Nazis, in a series of letters and reports, was that the Persian Emperor Cyrus had freed Jewish exiles in Babylon in 538 BC and they had returned to their homes. However, he told the Nazis, at some later point a small number of Iranians began to find the teachings of the Prophet Moses attractive - and these Mousaique, or Iranian Followers of Moses, which he dubbed "Djuguten," were not part of the Jewish race.

Using all of his lawyer's skill, he exploited the internal contradictions and idiocies of the Nazis' ideology to gain special treatment for the "Djuguten", as the archive material published in Mr Mokhtari's new book shows.

High-level investigations were launched in Berlin, with "experts" on racial purity drafted in to give an opinion on whether this Iranian sect - which the book suggests may well have been Sardari's own invention - were Jewish or not. The experts were non-committal and suggested that more funding was needed for research.

Lonely death

By December 1942, Sardari's pleas had reached Adolf Eichmann, the senior Nazi in charge of Jewish affairs, who dismissed them, in a letter published in Mr Mokhtari's book, as "the usual Jewish tricks and attempts at camouflage". But Sardari somehow managed to carry on helping families escape from Paris, at a time when an estimated 100,000 Jews were deported from France to death camps.

The number of blank passports in Sardari's safe is estimated to have been between 500 and 1,000. In his book, Mr Mokhtari suggests that if each was issued for an average of two to three people "this could have saved over 2,000 individuals".

Sardari never sought recognition for his work during his lifetime, insisting he had only been doing his duty. He died a lonely death in a bedsit in Croydon, south London, in 1981, after losing his ambassador's pension and Tehran properties in the Iranian revolution. He was posthumously recognised for his humanitarian work in 2004 at a ceremony at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles.

Mr Mokhtari hopes that by telling his story, through the testimony of survivors, including Mrs Cohanim, he will bring it to a wider audience but also shatter "popular misconceptions" about Iran and the Iranians.

"Here you have a Muslim Iranian who goes out of his way, risks his life, certainly risks his career and property and everything else, to save fellow Iranians," he says. "There is no distinction 'I am Muslim, he is Jew' or whatever."

He believes the story illustrates the "general cultural propensity of Iranians to be tolerant" which is often overlooked in the current political climate.

BBC

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Why do Nazi-themed tricks occur in the UK?

2011-12-21T09:50:00.001Z

British Tory MP Aidan Burley has left his post at the Transport Department after taking part in a Nazi-themed party. The order of his dismissal was signed personally by British Prime Minister David Cameron, The Mail on Sunday writes.

Several days ago this newspaper published photographs of a party at a French skiing resort where Burley is sitting side by side with a man wearing an SS officer’s outfit. Burley’s behavior brought sharp criticism from oppositional Labour MPs. Tories also considered their colleague’s conduct “offensive and foolish”. Aidan tried to save his career by denying any sympathy for Nazism. However, The Mail on Sunday discovered that he was not a random guest at that party and it had been his idea to hire the SS uniform.

In all probability, due to the growth of unemployment in the context of an economic crisis and all kinds of migration problems, the UK is living through a certain upsurge of right-wing moods aimed, among other things, against Muslim people. These people are subject to attacks similar to those in the period of the Nazi heyday in the 20th century. In this connection, it is small wonder that one of the participants in anti-Nazi campaigns in the UK Max Levitas directly declares that “the problem of fighting against Nazism is coming to the fore again”.

The English Defence League (EDL) is the face of the British right-wing forces today. This group, which identifies itself as a nationalist movement fighting against Muslim attacks on British culture, has repeatedly arranged protests against “Islamic extremism” on the British Isles. Stirring up anti-Muslim feelings in the British, the EDL and other right-wing radical groups put a stake on immigration problems in the UK. However, the EDL ideology is reminiscent of the past when Oswald Mosley’s Nazi ideas were fashionable in the UK in the late 1920s-early 1930s.

At the same time, it is worth pointing out that problems with immigration, higher unemployment and lower living standards of the British are not the only reasons for the growing radical moods in the country and Nazi-style tricks which have lately become frequent. If we remember the aforementioned Aidan Burley or Prince Harry, who put on a “Nazi” costume at a home party in 2005, those men can hardly be considered unemployed or needy. There must be a different reason for this. We can suggest moral degradation or complete immorality.

It is not a coincidence that straight after the August riots in the country and also last weekend Prime Minister David Cameron spoke about a “moral collapse” in the British society. In my opinion, the roots of today’s right-wing moods in the UK are in the moral field. Even though today’s right-wing radical organizations still remain in the backwater of British politics, people pay much more attention to them than before. Suffice it to say that the British National Party received two seats in the European parliament in 2009.

We can neither ignore the fact that in recent years the British bestseller lists contain a lot of books about the Third Reich. These books are fiction, documentary research and even science fiction. In 2000, only 350 books about the Third Reich were published in the UK and last year 850. The 100 most popular books on this subject have brought their publishers 12mln pounds. I suppose that publishers think little about the ethical and moral side of things when they receive these high profits printing all kinds of books about Nazis.

It is a pity because unduly enthusiasm about the dubious literature describing the Third Reich can eventually have a pernicious influence on the young British minds and is fraught with unpredictable consequences. The lessons of the Second World War in which Russians and the British fought together against Nazism remind us of this.

The Voice of Russia

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Liverpool furious as Luis Suárez banned in Patrice Evra racism row

2011-12-21T01:25:00.001Z

Striker set to miss eight games and is fined £40,000
Liverpool consider appeal against striker's conviction

Luis Suárez has been banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra, prompting an extraordinary response from Liverpool accusing the Manchester United player of being "not credible" and alleging that the Football Association had deliberately set out to punish their player even before hearing the evidence.

In a statement that also calls for the FA to press charges against Evra, Liverpool described themselves as "surprised and disappointed" with the "extraordinary" decision to find Suárez guilty of aiming racist abuse at the Senegal-born Frenchman during the 1-1 draw at Anfield on 15 October.

Their manager, Kenny Dalglish, tweeted: "Very disappointed with today's verdict. This is the time when @luis16suarez needs our full support. Let's not let him walk alone. KD"

The club are considering an appeal, with the punishment suspended and Suárez free to play until the process is completed, and the wording of their statement makes it clear they will not contemplate taking their own disciplinary action against a player who is understood to have admitted calling his opponent a "negro".

"We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no one else on the field – including Evra's own team-mates and all the match officials – heard the alleged conversation between two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner-kick was about to be taken," the statement said.

"It is our strong belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that Luis Suárez did not commit any racist act. It is also our opinion that the accusation by this particular player was not credible – certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations."

That was a reference to Evra's disciplinary case in 2008 when he was banned for four matches and fined £15,000 after an altercation with a Chelsea groundsman. The FA hearing at the time ruled his evidence was "exaggerated and unreliable" and Liverpool made a great point of focusing on this during the Suárez case.

However, the FA's three-man independent commission, led by Paul Goulding QC, did not accept Suárez's argument that the words he used were perfectly acceptable for someone from Uruguay, a defence of culture and semantics that has led to it being described as one of the more complex cases ever to fall under the remit of the FA's disciplinary unit. Suárez said on Twitter: "Today is a very difficult and painful day for both me and my family. Thanks for all the support, I'll keep working!"

There was no apology and it soon became apparent why as Liverpool turned the focus back on to the man who made the allegation. "It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said: 'I don't think that Luis Suárez is racist'. The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suárez was not racist," their statement said.

"Luis himself is of a mixed-race family background as his grandfather was black. He has been personally involved since the 2010 World Cup in a charitable project which uses sport to encourage solidarity amongst people of different backgrounds with the central theme that the colour of a person's skin does not matter; they can all play together as a team.

"We do not recognise the way in which Luis Suárez has been characterised. It appears to us that the FA were determined to bring charges against Luis Suárez, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November.

"Nothing we have heard in the course of the hearing has changed our view that Luis Suárez is innocent of the charges brought against him and we will provide Luis with whatever support he now needs to clear his name. We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suárez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms. Luis, to his credit, actually told the FA he had not heard the insult."

Evra had reportedly pushed away Suárez's hand when the Uruguayan attempted to pat him on the head and used words to the Liverpool player along the lines of: "Don't touch me, you South American." Liverpool have asked the FA to issue the same charges that have now led to Suárez's reputation being tarnished.

The FA's hearing, that began last Wednesday, had ruled that Suárez used "insulting words" that "included a reference to Mr Evra's colour". The full written reasons will be provided to Liverpool in the next few days and they will have 14 days to appeal. However, if they were to lose an appeal Suárez could potentially face an even longer ban. In the meantime Suárez is set to play in the league fixture at Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.

Guardian

Youngsters make film on respect after ‘racist rant’

2011-12-20T11:44:00.003Z

Youngsters from Croydon have recently made a film promoting respect for the community and have released it to the public as a response to the viral video showing racism on a Croydon tram last month.

Fifty young people aged between the ages of 13 and 18 produced the video, titled “Route to Respect”. It focuses on generating a positive relationship between different sections of the community, particularly when using public transport.

They interviewed a range of local figures on the topic of respect, including Gavin Barwell, MP for Croydon Central, and Adrian Roberts, Borough Commander for Croydon Metropolitan Police. They also learnt filming and animation skills with the help of Mediabox, the charity who funded the project. This allowed them to direct, film and produce the video themselves.

The project was run by the Croydon Supplementary Education Project (CSEP), an organisation which runs out-of-school educational programmes for Black and Ethnic Minority children in the borough. Project Leader at CSEP, Sasha Rhoden, said: “Young people today are either at home with their families and friends or at school with their teachers and classmates. The only time they interact with the public is on their journey to school. Bus drivers stop them and make them late, they are pushed and prodded and stereotyped as ‘hoodies’. Actually they themselves are quite frightened.”

The footage was filmed last year, but the children decided to release it on YouTube as an antidote to the videos taken on public transport that have emerged in the wake of the video taken on the Croydon tram.

Rhoden added: “An image of someone being very disrespectful in Croydon has just gone viral. This makes our film so much more relevant; it’s about being constructive rather than destructive and encouraging community cohesion. We want to show that young people sometimes do have the solutions rather than being the problem”

The video is being used by police officers visiting Croydon schools to encourage respect for others on public transport.

CSEP want to make a sequel in light of the recent videos called “Route to Respect 2″, but the project has been put on hold whilst CSEP seek the necessary funds. An additional setback to this is the fact that the centre’s film and video equipment was stolen in a break-in earlier this year.

CSEP is an organisation running Saturday schools and other community events and training programmes for the BME community in Croydon. To sign up for the Saturday school, or for more information on CSEP projects, contact info@csep.org.uk.

eastlondonlines

Hands-up anyone who believes the EDL is a human rights organisation...

2011-12-19T13:49:00.006Z

Tommo Ashton and friend

Thanks to Everything EDL for the pic and TwitaReteeta for the heads-up

EU hands out holidays paid for by taxpayer

2011-12-19T13:43:00.003Z

Tens of thousands of political activists, including hundreds from the BNP, have been given free or subsidised holidays by British and European taxpayers.

Even as it grapples with the financial crisis, the European Union is paying almost £25 million this year to subsidise the trips, arranged through MEPs.

The BNP, which has two Euro-MPs, has made heavy use of the scheme to thank some of its most prominent members at taxpayers’ expense. One BNP official boasted that it was “a good way of rewarding our activists” that “didn’t cost the party a penny”. The trips are ostensibly “study visits” to the European Parliament buildings in Brussels or Strasbourg, but the holidaymakers need spend only a fraction of their time at the parliament to claim the full subsidy, which can be collected in cash without the need for receipts.

One subsidised trip to Strasbourg last week, promoted by the Labour MEP Peter Skinner, lasted six days, with only a few hours spent at the parliament. The rest of the visit, according to a programme seen by The Sunday Telegraph, included a river cruise, a tour of the cathedral, a visit to the city’s Christmas market, champagne tasting, a battlefield tour in Ypres and sightseeing in Reims. Like most MEPs, Mr Skinner did not join the party, but hosted a free dinner for the participants.

Just under 30 people went on the tour, according to Mr Skinner’s office, staying in £100-a-night hotels in Ypres, Reims and the German spa town of Baden-Baden, near Strasbourg.

“After a buffet breakfast in the sunny Great Room, take your coffee on to the terrace to enjoy views of the picturesque Black Forest,” the Baden-Baden hotel’s website says. "Stroll beside the meandering River Oos and admire the Belle-Epoque mansions on Lichtentaler Allee. Play for high stakes at the glamorous Spielbank casino, and unwind in the soothing waters of Caracalla Spa.”

The cost of the six-day trip, including some meals, all accommodation, tours, coach and ferry, was £272. If booked directly, the hotels alone would have cost about £500 at this time of year.

One of those who went on the trip, Juan Leahy, who works for Mr Skinner, declined to comment when asked if it was mostly a “holiday”.

A spokesman for the European Parliamentary Labour Party said: “We believe the public should have the opportunity to see their elected officials at work, and we do not want this opportunity restricted to the rich who can afford travel.”

Stephen Booth, of the reform group Open Europe, said: “Spending taxpayers’ money on what are effectively subsidised holidays can only further erode public trust in the EU institutions. The European Parliament seems to exist in a parallel universe, completely ignorant of economic realities.”

Politicians of all parties help to arrange the trips. Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association advertised a break to Brussels, including return travel by Eurostar and a night in a city centre hotel, for £80.

“We have almost a whole day to sight-see, wander around the Christmas market and pick up inspiration for gifts,” said the association’s website.

Bill Newton-Dunn, the Liberal Democrat MEP, promoted a three-day weekend break in Brussels this month for £205, advertising it on his website as a “Christmas shopping” trip. The visit to the European Parliament lasted two hours on the Monday morning, just before the guests left for home.

The BNP has made extensive use of the subsidies to reward donors to its Trafalgar Club, who last year were hosted on a three-day visit to Bruges at EU expense by Nick Griffin, the party’s leader and an MEP. Ninety-two Trafalgar Club and life members took part.

Mr Griffin said: “Everyone really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and socialise with like-minded people who care about our country.”

Other BNP outings include trips to the First World War battlefields and Waterloo. Pictures on the website of Eddy Butler, a BNP staff member, show the party enjoying their “second breakfast of the day” at a Brussels café. In the evening, the group enjoyed a taxpayer-subsidised dinner, at what another participant, Chris Beverley, called “the wonderfully atmospheric Bivouac de l’Empereur restaurant”.

“Everyone knew they could let their hair down and relax, safe in the knowledge that they were among good nationalists, men and women of honour,” he added.

One BNP trip, in March last year, cost taxpayers €10,791 (£9,775) for 44 participants, an average of £220 a head. It was free for those who took part, according to the organiser, Mr Butler, and even made the BNP a profit.

“The subsidy is for a set amount,” said Mr Butler. “There is no provision to pay back what you don’t use. The organiser of the trip can use any residue for whatever he sees fit: this is quite legitimate.”

Mr Butler said he had donated the profits to the BNP.

In a report last month, the Court of Auditors, Europe’s spending watchdog, criticised this aspect of the scheme, warning that “the procedures in place do not require groups to provide evidence of travel costs, resulting in a risk of overpayment as most groups use cheaper collective transport”.

The subsidy for the journey from London to Brussels amounts to £85 a head, but Eurostar offers a return ticket for £69, and travelling in a privately hired coach can cost as little as £25. From Edinburgh to Brussels the travel subsidy would be £225, but a return flight with Ryanair costs as little as £49. The meal subsidy is set at £30 a person, but since no receipts are required visitors can buy cheaper meals and pocket the difference.

According to the Court of Auditors, 78 per cent of the payments to trip organisers last year were made in cash. This “limited the possibility of applying internal control procedures”, the watchdog warned.

Mr Butler defended the visits, saying: “Everyone had fun and it didn’t cost the party a penny. The trips are a good way of rewarding our activists for their hard work and dedication. Should we feel guilty for the Euro taxpayer? Certainly not.”

Each of the 736 MEPs is allowed to sponsor up to 110 visitors a year, although not all use their full quota. The visitors must travel in groups of at least 10. The trips are promoted to supporters on email lists and websites. Some are advertised on the MEPs’ websites and are not confined to sympathisers, although in practice most of the holidaymakers are political activists.

The European Parliament declined to give the number of British participants in the trips, but figures for the last available year, 2007, show that British visitors claimed €938,000 (£600,000) in subsidies.

The cost of the schemes for all 27 EU nations this year is €29.7 million (£24.9 million), a 40 per cent rise since 2007. As Britain’s share of the EU budget this year is 12 per cent, taxpayers are contributing £3 million to the programme.

A spokesman for the European Parliament said: “It is essential to the exercise of democratic rights within the European Union for members of the public to be granted access to the parliament’s proceedings and premises.”

The parliament said that better controls on the payments would be too “complex and time-consuming”.

Telegraph

EDL Angels 'whish' you a Merry Christmas

2011-12-18T22:54:00.004Z

Click on image for full-size

Thanks to Everything EDL for the pic

Thousands march in Florence after racist shootings

2011-12-18T22:47:00.004Z

Thousands marched against racism in Florence on Saturday after a far-right activist killed two Senegalese vendors in a shooting spree that shocked Italy and ignited a row over immigration.

"We want today to be the dawn of a new hope so that our brothers did not die in vain," said Pape Diaw, a spokesman for the Senegalese community. "We really have to work for peaceful coexistence and respect of people but it has to be a real struggle, not just a facade," he told reporters.

Around 10,000 people took part in the demonstration, according to police, while organisers put the number at some 12,000. Participants carried Senegalese flags and placards including one that read: "Racism? Not in my name."

"Our brothers were martyred. Obviously not martyrs of war but martyrs since they were killed while they were working for their daily bread," Florence imam Izzedin Elzir told the crowd in the historic Santa Maria Novella square.

The city is still reeling after Gianluca Casseri, a Holocaust denier and author of fantasy novels, went on the rampage on Tuesday with a Magnum revolver at two local markets including the tourist-heavy San Lorenzo in the centre. Two Senegalese street vendors were killed and another three wounded before the 50-year-old killed himself when police began closing in on him. Senegalese authorities have called for a full inquiry into the killings.

Dozens of Senegalese immigrants and white Florence residents gathered ahead of the protest at the Dalmazia Square market where the spree began, reading passages from the Koran and leaving flowers and messages at a street shrine. A large makeshift sign at the square in honour of the two victims -- Samb Modou, 40, and Diop Mor, 54 -- read simply "Modou and Mor: Two of Us."

After a Muslim rite on Monday, their bodies will be flown back to Senegal the following day.

"There needs to be a strong commitment against racism by everyone and we need to put in place an immigration policy in line with our constitution," said Vannino Chiti, a senator from the centre-left Democratic Party. Chiti, one of several left-wingers at the protest, said Italian law should be changed before the next elections to allow the children of immigrants to obtain citizenship -- echoing a demand made by President Giorgio Napolitano.

Several members of the Senegalese community have also called for the immediate closure of Casa Pound, a national right-wing social group that Casseri belonged to but which has been quick to denounce the violence.

Claudio Morganti, a lawmaker from the anti-immigration Northern League party, said the protest had been "ruined by left-wing politicians who have manipulated it and made it part of their political propaganda."

"The Senegalese have to understand that whoever comes here has to respect the rules and respect the people who are hosting them," he said.

There were several smaller marches in other major Italian cities too. At one in Milan, some immigrants shouted "Racists!" and "Murderers!" at police officers. Bologna, Genoa, Naples, Padua also saw protests.

Many street vendors in Italian cities, who sell everything from African sculptures to tourist trinkets to fake designer accessories, are Senegalese. Their makeshift stalls are popular but they are often selling without official licences and are forced to run off whenever police approach.

In an interview on Saturday, International Cooperation and Integration Minister Andrea Riccardi warned attacks like the one in Florence and an arson attack on a Roma camp in Turin last Saturday were "a warning bell".

"We can't dismiss these as one-off events. They are a risk for the integration and the solidarity of our country. And they show that the crisis is not just economic but much deeper," he told La Stampa daily.

Responding to criticism from the Northern League, Riccardi -- the founder of the pro-integration Catholic community group Sant'Egidio -- was scathing.

"Contempt has been preached for too long, ethnic minority groups have been spoken about harshly for too long. There has to be security for all Italians, for all immigrants and for all those who work in Italy. This is the first thing I told the Senegalese community in Florence: 'There needs to be security for you too.'".

Yahoo

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Tory MP Aidan Burley sacked over 'Nazi' stag party attendance

2011-12-18T08:56:00.001Z

Aidan Burley 'made the wrong choice not to leave' party at French ski resort which included toasts to the Third Reich

A Tory MP who attended a stag party where guests dressed as Nazis has been sacked as a Commons aide for "offensive" behaviour and placed under investigation by David Cameron.

Aidan Burley had expressed "deep regret" at the "inappropriate" actions of guests, including toasts to the Third Reich, with whom he partied at a French ski resort.

But he was removed from his post as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Transport Secretary Justine Greening after fresh allegations were made linking him to the behaviour.

The Mail on Sunday, which exposed the party a week ago, said it had new information about the episode.

A Party spokesman said: "Aidan Burley has behaved in a manner which is offensive and foolish.

"That is why he is being removed from his post as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Transport. In light of information received the prime minister has asked for a fuller investigation into the matter to be set up and to report to him."

The Cannock Chase MP issued an "unreserved, wholehearted and fulsome apology" over the party in a letter to the Jewish Chronicle earlier this week.

One of his friends donned a replica SS officer's uniform and another guest reportedly toasted the "ideology and thought processes" of Adolf Hitler's regime.

In the letter he said he wished he had left the stag party.

"What was happening was wrong and I should have completely dissociated myself from it. I had a choice, and I made the wrong choice not to leave. I apologise for this error of judgment."

The Guardian

Jesse Jackson calls for public inquiry into British deaths in custody

2011-12-17T20:43:00.002Z

Veteran US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson joined with campaigners in London (Thursday) to throw his weight behind calls for a public inquiry into deaths in police custody.

Jesse Jackson spoke alongside families of some of those who have died in police custody. He noted that 338 people have died in such circumstances since 1998, yet no police officer has been convicted for any of the deaths.

“The police have permission to behave in this way,” he said. “They are protected by the state. The choice is whether we adjust to oppression, or resist and fight back.”

Speakers talked about the recent revelation that eight in nine senior members of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) are former police officers.

“The IPCC are not independent,” said Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean Rigg died in Brixton police station in 2008. “Everything is in favour of the police. The police aren't treated as suspects—they are treated as witnesses. There’s a massive cover-up, a conspiracy, and it's institutionalised.”

Merlin Emmanuel, nephew of reggae artist Smiley Culture who died in March after a police raid on his home, also spoke out.

“As long as there are people who are excessively rich at the expense of the excessively poor, we have the right to protest,” he said.

Kadisha Brown-Burrell’s brother Kingsley Burrell died in April after contact with West Midlands Police. “If we don’t have an inquiry there will be no end to deaths in custody,” she said.

Jesse Jackson drew connections between treatment of black and ethnic minorities in Britain and the US. “Whether here in London or in Chicago or Los Angeles, we have globalised capitalism—but we don’t have globalised human rights,” he said. “The only cure is to fight.”

He added movement for justice should link up with the Occupy movement. “Don't see the Occupy movement as ‘them’,” he said. “We are all the 99 percent.”

Jesse Jackson and the families then travelled to the protest at St Paul’s cathedral to speak at an assembly. Hundreds turned up to hear him.

“Occupy is a global spirit for justice,” he said. “It exposes inequality, injustice and corruption. When we fight back, we can win. If Martin Luther King was here today, he would be at Occupy.”

Socialist Worker

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Deaths in police custody cut deep in the psyche of black Britons

2011-12-17T04:52:00.004Z

An improvement on feeble IPCC responses to police abuse might help avoid the kind of anger shown in the summer's riots

'What we have seen in the IPCC investigation of Mark Duggan’s shooting is an
enfeebled organisation with weak ineffective leadership.' Photograph: Rex Features

For many in the black community, justice in Britain is colour coded. The inadequacy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in relation to deaths in custody illustrates this stone cold reality.

Mark Duggan, David Emmanuel (aka Smiley Culture), Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser and Jacob Michael, and the surreal and horrific desecration suffered by the Christopher Adler family, have left many of us reeling in shock and anger.

What we have seen in the IPCC investigation of Duggan's shooting is an enfeebled organisation with weak ineffective leadership. The overwhelming perception within black communities is that the current system of IPCC investigation and coroner inquests is so stacked against us that in effect, it protects the guilty and denies justice to the victims.

Within government, the London mayor's office and the senior ranks of the police, there is little appreciation of the depths of anger these tragic cases generate in our communities. That's because tackling racism and institutional racism are no longer considered policy priorities. The results are that the invaluable lessons learned from the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence have now been discarded as "political correctness gone mad". That fundamental mistake has cost the country dear and I fear will do so again in the future.

What's not understood is that a black death in police custody exposes the perennial faultline in relations between the police and black communities. Duggan was the fourth black man to die in suspicious circumstances this year. Since then more have died. Had political sensitivity and genuine anger relating to these tragic events been better understood then maybe the riots that took place this summer could have been avoided.

Death in custody remains the one issue that can transform police and community relations in an instant, tapping deeply into the psyche of black Britons. Historically the tragic story of black men and women being detained then beaten, abused, treated like animals and dying in mysterious circumstances is an all-too-familiar experience.

It is ingrained in our collective memories. From Jim Crow and lynching in America's old deep south, the brutality of the South African apartheid regime, or the beating of Rodney King – or, in the UK, the cases of Colin Roach, Clinton McCurbin, Cynthia Jarrett and Cherry Groce. Brutaliity backed up by institutionally racist organs of state that conspire to deny black people their right to justice.

Very few police officers have ever been charged, and not a single one convicted of manslaughter or murder. What we experience are the impenetrable barriers of ancient laws, lengthy and complex procedures and enormous costs that make justice an unobtainable dream.

There are some ways to try to end this cycle. One is a full and independent public judicial inquiry into deaths in police custody and the inquest process. This could help draw a line under the past 50 years that have seen family after family broken in their desperate search for the truth.

If the government refuses, then alternatively, given the significance of London, the mayor, Boris Johnson, could announce his own independent judicial inquiry. This will bring the cleansing properties of transparency to an issue mired in controversy and acrimony. For this government, moral argument about access to justice many not be enough. However there is a strong economic argument. The cost of an inquiry is cheaper than the cost of a riot.

We also need urgent parliamentary and legislative reform of the now discredited IPCC. If confidence is to be restored then the IPCC will need more powers, authority and truly independent investigators forensically searching for the truth.

In my view, though, none of this is likely to happen soon, and it is therefore inevitable that we will see more suspicious deaths followed by enfeebled IPCC investigations.

If I am right then we have not seen the last riotous disturbance; for where there is no justice, there can be no peace.

Comment is free

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Home Office responds on EDL threat

2011-12-16T04:23:00.002Z

The Home Office has written to an umbrella group representing a range of Jewish communal and religious groups in response to statements distancing themselves from the methods and aims of the English Defence League.

Earlier this year the leaders of the United Synagogue, Reform, Liberal and Masorti communities, as well as the Board of Deputies and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' congregation, highlighted their opposition to the EDL's tactics and called on the far right organisation to refrain from using Jewish and Israelis symbols in its campaigns.

Under the umbrella of the Council of Imams and Rabbis of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, they rejected in particular the EDL's "efforts to incite hatred and antagonism in our society", its attempts to "foment violence" and "drive a wedge between the Jewish community and our Muslim neighbours".

They attempted to draw a line under the EDL's efforts to attract Jewish membership, which reached a peak with a rally "to oppose Islamic fascism" outside the Israeli embassy last year where EDL members waved Israeli flags. The EDL has a "Jewish Division", but it has been beset by infighting and is understood to have only a handful of Jewish members.

James Brokenshire, the Home Office Minister responsible for policy regarding the EDL, has now sent a letter of response to Mehri Niknam, director of the Council of Imams and Rabbis.

"We welcome your positive action to counter the divisive influence and minimise the impact of EDL activity," he said. "As a government our position is clear, we will not tolerate groups like the EDL who spread hate, seek to divide us and deliberately raise community fears and tensions."

He said the government would continue to condemn the EDL's views and actions when necessary and work with police and local agencies. Mr Brokenshire added that the government trusted local agencies to "put in place suitable local measures to counter the influence and minimise the impact of EDL activity.

"We stand ready to provide advice and support where it is requested."

Jewish Chronicle

The English Defence League 2011 Review

2011-12-15T04:22:00.007Z

January

January got off to a slow start for the English Defence League. Their most notable achievement was to announce a demo in Luton, allegedly to protest against Asian heroin dealers in Luton. These same dealers may well also trade in cocaine, the Class A of choice among certain squat and ugly self appointed leaders.

The new year started badly when it emerged that one of their founding members, Richard Price was exposed as a massive paedophile and Tommy and Kev had tried to cover it up, whilst all the time, referring to him as a political prisoner after he got arrested and jailed for being an arse.

Whilst campaigning on an anti Muslim paedo platform, it came as a massive embarrassment when one of their own turned out to be one and the EDL try and avoid discussing it. Full story of the cover up here. Pricey turned up in the comments section of the article to try and clear his name but failed.

Members of the EDL's Blackburn Division spent thirty long cold nights demonstrating outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken in protest at them selling halal food. The event was largely considered unsuccessful when it turned out that the branch did not sell Halal. EFC – Epic Fail Chums.

Violent thug, Bernard Holmes, aka Mr B spent most of the month dressed as a chicken which we at EDL News thought quite appropriate. Mr B is currently on remand following an alleged incident in Lancashire after the EDL mobbed the home of Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim. (see July)

February

February started off with Tommy appearing on the BBC's Newsnight alongside Jeremy Paxman who conducted the interview. A twitchy Tommy sat before Paxman and Tommy getting eaten by Paxman on Newsnight pitched his pitch only to be shot down by a clearly feisty presenter who showed much disdain for the short arsed racist from Luton.

Tommy ranted for a bit about Sharia law, mosques, paedophiles etc to a disinterested Paxman who was waiting for his chance to pull out some quotes from the EDL's Facebook Wall. Tommy could not deny the posts which were a vitriolic combination of 'kill pakis', 'burn mosques' etc.

Here are a few that were on the EDL's Wall when the programme was broadcast.

Who’s up for petrol bombing the Mosques in the name of England we didn’t win the world war twice for nothing. 10 points for killing a Muslim, first to 1000 wins”

“Fuck off Habz ya smelly Muslim cunt. I’ll fuckin set fire to your Mosque and burn all you cunts inside”

“Make the dirty Paki eat fucking Mcdonalds, make him sit and watch as you burn the Quaran outside his fuckin house”

“Little Paki cunt we will find you and cut out your tongue”

“Some one pay for my train from Leeds and I’ll pop round and see our little rag head friend, I’ll burn his fucking house down with him and his family in it. Piece of shit. Ur going be byes. Ns!!!!!”

“Best get me some petrol and camera out, set fire to a Mosque while they’re praying, get some fantastic pics then!!”

“FUCK YOU UAF I HATE YOU ALL AND MUSLIM TWATS BURN PAKIS BURN CALL ME A RACIST IT ONLY MAKES ME STRONGER”

There was nowhere for Tommy to hide so he went on to claim anyone can like Facebook and post on their wall. This contradicted Tommy’s claim of EDL popularity which he had based on Facebook likes for the racist group’s page. Game set and match went to Paxman and Tommy slunk off with his tail between his legs. You can see the whole interview here.

The EDL were set for the 'big one', a demo where they were all to return ‘home’, back to Luton, where it all began with the United People’s Front of Luton or was it the People’s Front of United Luton. Tens of thousands of patriots were to turn up and take the streets back from the Muslamics. After the streets had been reclaimed, the EDL had vowed to gorge themselves on Stella Artois and bacon sandwiches and then get into fights with each other, which they are currently banned from doing under Sharia law.

To up the ante, Kev Carroll decided that the predicted tens of thousands would not be enough and the way forward was to up the ante. He decided it would be a great idea to fake an assassination attempt. This was apparently decided after several jars of Stella at Tommy’s local, the Patriotic Parrot, and a few lines of chang after last orders.

The plan was that Uncle Kev would take the fall to an imaginary fake assassin dressed in 'full Islamic garb'. Shots would be fired and rocks thrown at his window whilst he feared for his life and the lives of his family.

And so this legendary Facebook status was born and patriots up and down the country were outraged and called for the death of as many brown people as possible. Chests were thumped and every patriot in the country vowed to descend on Luton to take revenge.

Bedfordshire Police took it seriously and issued this statement:

“At 10.42 last night (Thur) we received a complaint from a man who said something had been thrown against his window.

“He ran out and said he saw a man with what appeared to be a shotgun. No shots were fired and no one was injuries.

“Police searched the area but nobody was found. Detectives are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time.”

Kev managed to get himself on Three Counties Radio the next day and the smell of bullshit became stronger and stronger.

As more and more questions were asked and with no actual evidence of an assassination attempt, the events in Luton that night were quietly dropped by leadership, who no doubt hoped the whole embarrassing affair would go away.

A few days later the EDL Angels decided they need to ditch their image of being violent racists by announcing that they would be collecting at the Luton demonstration for 'Soldiers off the Streets'. This is not to be confused with the EDL's favourite chant of 'Muslim Bombers off are Streets'. Unfortunately SOTS turned out to be yet another BNP front.

Predictably, the Luton demo never turned into the big one, despite the alleged assassination attempt by a man with a potato and an umbrella. Many of those who vowed to exact revenge could not be bothered to journey themselves down to the mighty metropolis. Around 2,500 'patriots' turned up drunk and listened to a few speeches, got bored, got feisty with each other then got more drunk. Tommy was comprehensively destroyed by Sky News's Adam Boulton, were largely ignored by the mainstream press and went home disappointed whilst using the infamous EDL Mathematics Division’s formulas of multiplying by twelvty.

Mid February saw the arrest of Plymouth Division's vodka soaked Tony Davis aka Arthur Disbury. The EDL's geriatric ranter, was nicked for publishing racially inflammatory material on YouTube. He had threatened to put on a suicide vest and blow up a mosque which Plymouth Division and thought was a perfectly acceptable and so an impassioned plea was made to Tommy for support. Tommy stated he would be supporting him but went a bit quiet after seeing the video in question and he was a massive embarrassment. More here courtesy of Expose.

February also saw their much lauded 'Jewish Division' turn more hard core and become a complete embarrassment to the movement. JD leader Roberta Moore, known colloquially as “Batty Berta”, publicly aligned the English Defence League with a banned terrorist organisation, the Jewish Task Force, headed by Victor Vancier who had served prison terms for multiple bombings in the United States. This caused much unrest amongst the ranks with several pointing out, they were supposed to be fighting terrorists. With Tommy already under pressure from his unwieldy movement, he whined: "It’s destroying my family, do you know what I mean? My missus is crying, it’s a big stress. I don’t want to be leader of this organization but I want something to change". More here from Expose.

After a week of umming and ahhing about what to do with his renegade division, Tommy released the following statement distancing himself from the JTF whilst at the same time not taking responsibility for one of his own divisions:

Towards the end of the month, Roberta Moore was found to be the co chairperson and political liaison for the Muslim hating English National Alliance, headed by comedy Nazi Bill Baker who had famously stated "the sooner we start killing Muslims, the better".

Beleaguered Tommy decided that enough was enough and tried to distance himself from the Jewish Division, who responded by saying that they were going nowhere. Tommy then decided to drop distancing himself from them, favouring the approach of pretending they did not exist.

March

March started badly publicity wise for the EDL, nothing much happened in the middle and the end was a disaster. A fairly quiet month still saw Tommy caught cavorting with UVF types. Two EDL members were charged with arson for an attack on a mosque in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. Simon Beech and Gareth Foster went on to receive 10 years in prison each.

The EDL finished March with a local rally in Rochdale and ended up in the papers for all the wrong reasons. They managed to upload a video of themselves being drunk and racist on a train and it ended up in all the local newspapers. The end result was various EDL members being lifted by plod. More here from Expose.

This was also the month the EDL discovered you can go viral without casually passing your neo-Nazi sexual partners around. EDL Warrington Division member Ryan McGarvey became an overnight internet sensation when he was interviewed by Press TV and promptly forgot why he was on a march. The famous Muslamic ray guns video can been seen here. McGarvey has been quiet on the 'patriot' scene since so we have no idea if he is still part of the movement or if he is working on a double act with Fenton.

To date, the YouTube video and it's various spin offs have a combined total of over a million views. Many EDL members were embarrassed by Mr McGarvey's press statement which led to leadership instructing members not to speak to the press, especially if they were drunk and had no idea why they were there.

To add further insult to injury, comedian Russell Howard took the piss out of them on his BBC show 'Good News'. Much anger and many death threats to Mr Howard later, the Chorley Division decided that they were going to demonstrate outside one of his shows in town. None of them actually bothered to turn up. Anti fash took the piss further. No surrender indeed.

April

April started badly with even the Daily Mail turning on them with the following headline:

Shaming the St Georges Cross: Vile EDL Thugs in 2,000-strong Hate Protest wear flag coloured burkas to confront Muslims

This referred to the infamous Blackburn demo on the 1st April. Billed as another 'big one' around 2,000 members turned up in Blackburn drunk, were kettled by plod and fought with each other.

After weeks of online bickering between various factions of the leadership, tensions spilled over when Tommy took to the stage after seemingly having indulged in large quantities of Sniff 'n' Stella. He accused a group of those assembled of being Nazis, grasses and traitors and made the call to “Just kill the bastards” and “beat em up”.

One accused member turned out to be someone completely different but not to let false accusations get in the way, a lynch mob was formed. A mass brawl ensued which ended up with Tommy Head butting an ex service man, this latest in a line of convictions earning him 12 months suspended.

One member commented

“Worst fucking demo ever. We all waited like 2 hours for the event to begin and the inbred half wits wouldn’t SHUT THE FUCK UP with the shit we’d been chanting since 9:25 that morning. Couldn’t hear a fucking word, and the bit with that cunt throwing a can at that poor woman sums up the type of people the EDL attract.

Whilst EDL stewards were trying to do what they do best, fail to keep things under control, a separate brawl broke out in the coach park and an EDL Angel was bottled.

Amongst the speakers was Bernard Holmes aka Mr B who had just been released from prison for a violent assault on a man outside a bar, leaving him with brain damage. Holmes is currently in prison awaiting trial for the alleged Lancashire offence as mentioned earlier.

Online recriminations went on for days and saw the split between the EDL and the north west/north east divisions giving birth to the Infidels. A match report of the whole debacle can be seen here. Any resemblance to scenes in Life of Brian are purely coincidental.

Later on in the month the EDL decided that enough is enough and they were going to have a jolly old St Georges Day. Unbeknown to them, there was a surprise planned for them and Team Poison and Z Hacking Company removed their 100,000-strong Facebook page on the holiest of holy days for all 'patriots'. After two weeks of confusion and not knowing which new page was fake and which was the real deal, they finally manage to wrestle it back. Shortly afterwards their website was hacked and the names and addresses of many of their members were posted online. As well as hundreds of member's email addresses and passwords, it also covered court details from a past drug conviction of Tommy and details of his girlfriends convictions for cocaine dealing. The internet was fast becoming the EDL's biggest downfall.

If the loss of their Facebook page (and their means to claim 100,000 members) wasn't enough to send Tommy over the edge, Jewish Division leader, Roberta Moore decided to endorse some Nazis when she posted that she was not bothered about the EDL being full of Nazis as long as they kept a bit quiet about being Nazis. Here is her statement:

“And as I said, I do not mind their racist or Nazi views, as long as they don’t say them IN PUBLIC!! It’s as simple as that”

~ Roberta Moore. Leader of the EDL Jewish Division.

Tommy disappeared off the face of the earth for the next two weeks, and the only person claiming to have heard from him was prolific light bulb thief, Derek Fender. Fender previously claimed that he had served 14 years in the nick for holding a shot gun to an Asian man's head so no one was taking his sighting of Tommy very seriously at all.

Tommy emerged from his hole in the ground on the 10th May to dispel rumours that there has been rather a lot of financial naughtiness concerning lucre raised through the Snowy legal fund and sales of EDL merchandise. He released a video where he looked shifty and hard done by which did little to quell the suspicions.

A week later Tommy appeared in court charged with kicking off on Armistice day last year and was found guilty and received a fine of 350 shekels under the country's current two tier system. One EDL member famously tried to claim that Tommy had been convicted under Sharia law.

They ended up kicking off outside the court when the following Facebook status update was made;

Muslims are turning up and they now have the advantage can you all put a shout out for help to go to the Court thanks

Shortly after the court case, many threats of racist violence were posted on their Facebook page with many members aggrieved that Tommy had been fined for a public order offence committed on Armistice day. Full story here. A large group of EDL members were attacked by a couple of teenagers on bikes outside the court and came off worse.

Just days after the court case, photos appeared in the Times showing EDL members in Afghanistan standing next to a tank holding EDL flags and a scandal broke out when the EDL were exposed for selling wristbands for the troops whilst all the time the money was going towards sound systems for demos, hi vis vests and , who knows, maybe some Colombian Marching Powder (for all that marching they weren’t going to do). They then claimed 50p for each one went to a children's charity but were unable to disclose which one it was.

Tommy decided to take a break from his blunders and take a nice relaxing trip to France and managed to drop another glitterball sized bollock. He was arrested by French plod after getting bored with his break and joining up for a merry shindig with some French neo-Nazis on an an ti-Muslim demonstration in Lyon. The chaps he was marching with were Block Identiaire who run soup kitchens for the homeless. All very nice you might think, until it turned out that they lace their soups with pork so Jewish and Muslims homeless people cannot eat it.

Restaurant chairs where thrown, windows smashed and Tommy and Cardiff City football hooligan, Joe Marsh got themselves nicked. French plod got bored with the pair after a bit and released them under the terms of their country's two tier system. To date, Tommy's European trips have not been overly successful after his last soujourn to Amsterdam ended with him getting chased out of town by local Ajax supporters who stole his EDL flag from him.

Much of April was taken up with foaming and frothing about the Charlene Downs case in Blackpool. Charlene is a missing teenager and the EDL had convinced each EDL sport Green Mankinis and pig masks at the Blackpool Charlene Downes Memorial other that she was minced up by some 'pakis' and served as a kebab. The case against the accused was dropped after some shoddy work by plod and it emerged Downes parents allegedly allowed a known white paedophile to move into their house.

Not to be deterred by that fact, they organised a poorly attended memorial demo where members turned up drunk, with one member, Paul Nelson, showing his respect by wearing a green mankini and pig mask. The Scottish Defence League showed their respect to the alleged cause by bragging about being pissed and partying in Blackpool.

After their disastrous visit to France, the EDL decided they would kick off June by hanging out with some Swedish fascists. The main organiser was a tiny fringe organisation called Försvarskåren Sveriges Självförsvar (literal translation; Defence Corps Sweden’s Self Defence). The Swedish Defence League were initially involved, but were dropped at an early stage for having “too much Jewish influence”. So they decided to accept an offer of help from National demokraterna (The National Democrats). There were no arrests but the tie up went largely unnoticed.

Tommy's campaign against Asian drug dealers spectacularly fell off the rails mid June when a picture of him emerged looking completely off his face stood by a table with what appears to be a considerable amount of chang. The picture was thought to have been leaked by the North West Infidels in response to Tommy being nasty to them in Blackburn.

June

June also saw the English Defence League's eBay and PayPal accounts frozen due to apparent financial irregularities noted by the Sharia tax man.

On the 20th June, Tommy managed to get himself arrested twice in one day which was bloody good going even by his standards. Plod from Luton arrested him for a local disturbance and then Lancashire Plod nicked him for head butting Alan McKee at the disastrous Blackburn demo.

Tommy released the following statement:

Due to the ongoing harassment by the Police forces of the UK I have decided that as from this point in time there will no longer be any Police Liaison with any Police force at all levels, Division, Regional or National.

On the 21st June EDL News was born and it ended up getting quite big with lots of complete bastards writing nasty stuff about the EDL and 'patriots' in general.

Amongst the EDL, EDL News is largely though to be run by:

The police
The government
Communists/Students
The Saudi Arabians
Osama Bin Laden
The dude with the hook for a hand
Mi5/Mi6/Snowy
Peter Tatchell
Geroge Galloway/Derek Fender
Ex EDL

On the same day there was a minor demonstration against a mosque in Maidenhead. The EDL excelled themselves by attacking a couple of Asian guys in the street.

July

July started on a cheery note when an EDL organised 'spit on a Muslim day' sprung up as a Facebook event. The group attracted a lot of support from the rank and file.

On the 3rd July Conservative North West Euro MP Sajjad Karim was harassed at his h ouse when a group from Blackburn Division turned up drunk and stood around in his garden. Karim said : "They were incredibly intimidating and they were all over my driveway and looking into my house." Blackburn Division then went on to Briersfield where ten of them were arrested and are awaiting trial. Among them was Chickenman Bernard Holmes who is due in court on 3rd April, 2012 and was refused bail again only last week. (Holmes crops up rather a lot)

After insulting British soldiers and bringing the EDL into disrepute, Roberta Moore issued a statement on the 4th July pretending that she was leaving the EDL after getting a better offer. This better offer did not appear to materialise and she didn't actually leave the EDL.

On the same day the the MDI (Muslim Debate Initiative) extended an invitation to the English Defence League ‘to openly debate their issues and contentions against Islam and Muslims in a live public debate at a neutral venue’. Unsurprisingly the EDL declined the offer, a move widely interpreted as a surrender to real debate, ie.one which they could not win.

On the 9th July the EDL changed their tactics and held separate multiple regional demos in Middlesbrough, Cambridge, Halifax and Plymouth. Most were poorly attended, fights broke out amongst members, the weather was poor, there were many arrests and for the most part they were all kettled in various car parks before being sent packing. In all cases they were heavily outnumbered by local people and anti fascists.

There was not really much to report from any of them, none of them had a good time and nothing was achieved apart from the usual bad publicity in the local press. There is a demo report linked above.

The Halifax demo was held in the car park of the family-oriented Eureka museum which was forced to shut for the day. Violence broke out and a pleas by police to identify the culprits was issued.

On the 11th July, Tommy celebrated his stag night by getting nicked again. He had bizarrely decided to have his stag night in the Muslim enclave of Tower Hamlets and things kicked off after someone recognized him and an ambush was set up. His whole stag party was arrested and spent the night in the cells.

The 16th July saw a demonstration in Manchester where things started off badly when the pub they had arranged to meet in was closed and the group of 'patriots' became fragmented. About 100 turned out and were immediately removed from the pubs and issued with Section 27s (under the Violent Crim Reduction Act) which forced them to leave the city centre.

Most were held in the Yates' on Portland Street and The Bank on Mosley Street before being shipped out of town with a flea in their ear. This all happened under the two tier system which sees 'patriots' getting thrown out of town by GMP's tactical support group for turning up, getting drunk and getting racist whereas Muslims who do not turn up in town, get drunk and get racist do not get thrown out of town in a heavy handed manner. There were reports of around ten EDL arrests.

On the same day another local demo took place in Portsmouth. Racist abuse was targeted at a Muslim family who had come onto their balcony to see what was happening. Hants Police estimate a mere 150 protesters turned up in the wind and rain. There were seven arrests of EDL supporters on suspicion of crimes ranging from public order offences to assaulting a police officer. Violence erupted and police formed a human barrier to stop EDL getting into Guildhall Square and grabbing scaffolding poles

The English Defence League's website was hacked again on the 18th July. The site had already been hacked on numerous occasions, resulting in a leak of the members’ list containing addresses and phone numbers of people who had bought merchandise.

Anonymous issued an ultimatum to the EDL leadership on Twitter on the 12th July.

Op_Britain Operation Britain
Due to the denial of EDL admins. We shall bring the EDL site down at 1pm UK time, which is sufficient proof. That is all. #umadEDLadmin
12 Jul Favorite Retweet Reply

Followed later in the day with this post

Op_Britain Operation Britain
#OpBritain delivered! #EDL is down as we promised.
12 Jul Favorite Retweet Reply

The EDL had completely lost control of their website as Anonymous posted this, taunting them.

Op_Britain Operation Britain
We are letting www.englishdefenceleague.org back up for a short while.. so we can have fun on the forums....THIS IS NOW A SPIDERMAN THREAD

The EDL's online security had been a shambles with the main site getting taken down on a regular basis, their Zetaboard's message board hacked and control lost of their main Facebook page on St George's Day.

On the 22nd July Anders Behring Brievik launched his attack. His links to the EDL would later be revealed. The Jewish Division took the stance that the dead children deserved it and denounced them as scum Many EDL members jumped to the conclusion that it was Muslims that launched the attack and their Facebook was full of threats of violence until they finally accepted it was one of their own. Tommy would later go on to state that he 'understood why he did it'.
The EDL News article about the Jewish Division received over 8,000 hits and remains the second most read article on the site.

In the aftermath of events in Norway, Tommy made another disastrous appearance on Newsnight when Paxman ripped him a new one.

The English Defence League's woeful online security problem continued on the 24th July as ZHC Hacking Company took control of their main Facebook page and deleted it.

The page had 96,000 likes made up of racists, trolls, journalists, spies, antifa and law enforcement agencies. The number of likes was constantly used by leadership to 'prove' how big their movement was and a couple of weeks ago the EDL's admin accidentally confessed that there were only a few thousand active users. Hel Gower has had bigger movements.

The new pages have so far failed to achieve even a fraction of the support previously claimed, the hack proving a major disaster for their online presence.

James Cohen, a Canadian who has never been to the UK was appointed head of the new Jewish Division after Tommy sacked Roberta and Rapey Robert. Roberta claimed that she owned the EDL name and would not be going anywhere despite her being about as popular with the EDL rank and file as a dead halal goat. There are now two EDL Jewish Divisions, an official one and another official one. No-one knows which is which.

August

August started in the spirit of summer when Plymouth Division and the Combined Ex Forces (EDL ex military division) held a meet and greet. The meeters and greeters ended up horribly drunk and a local kebab shop was attacked. Hayley Wells, convicted eBay fraudster, and her friend Kelly Watterson were charged with racially aggravated assault and will face a jury at the beginning of January, 2012. Racially aggravated assault is a serious offence which can attract a significant custodial sentence.

CxF leader Michael Rafferty faces lesser charges of obstructing plod. Repercussions from the events resulted in Hayley Wells losing her coveted deputy regional co-ordinator position (Plymouth Deputy Chief Racist) and the CxF being ex-communicated by the EDL. The CxF would continue to go it alone which would end up in a farce of biblical proportions. After the CxF expulsion, convicted people smuggler, Alan CxF (not so) Cleverley, revealed that Tommy had sought funds from a US based Jewish terrorist group.

On the 9th August the EDL decided to involved themselves in the UK riots. A two hundred strong mob of drunk middle-aged English Defence League Members threw bottles and fought with police in Eltham, south London. Many were drinking from cans bought from the supermarket, EDL slogans were chanted and bottles were thrown at Welsh police who were drafted in from other parts of south London to deal with the disturbances.

Deranged EDL/CxF racist and chief mentalist Lyn Saddington also decided to get in on the act by smashing up the Cowley Social Club in Brighton. The police were tipped off and she was issued with an order to leave the area or be arrested. Saddington later tried to justify it by claiming 'lefties' drank there.

Days after, Prime Minister David Cameron described EDL members as “sick.” He made the comments during an emergency House of Commons debate and was responding to a question by Labour MP for Eltham, Clive Efford. Much outrage was directed towards Cameron and the EDL 'Angels' announced a demonstration outside Downing Street under the byline 'EDL Angels are not Sick'. EDL News published an article explaining in clear terms why they were considered sick by most of society.

On the 13th August the EDL held a national demonstration in Telford, Shropshire. Home Secretary Theresa May banned the demo and rendered it a static march which was kettled in a car park. The demo, which was something to do with paedophiles, passed off fairly peacefully although arrests were made when some members tried to break into a police dog van to look at the doggies. Trouble flared afterwards when Vicki 'moo moo' Covent ry was arrested and charged with trying to push someone under a train and 40 members were arrested for getting into a fight in a supermarket car park. More info here.

The 22nd August saw the English Defence League's out of control Jewish Division turn their extremism towards black people. Roberta Moore and Robert Barthomeus, neither of them Jewish or British, turned their bile towards the Reverend Jesse Jackson describing him as an 'ape faced black nazi'

September

September started with Tommy demanding a debate with David Cameron. Cameron and just about everyone else ignored him.

The 3rd September saw the much anticipated Tower Hamlets demonstration, the big ‘big one’. Antifa had called all the pubs around Euston and they shut their doors on them, no-one knew where to meet and plod made sure they didn’t get anywhere near Tower Hamlets. Members on an errant coach from Notts Division were the only ones to make it there and drunken hard core racist, Joanne 'bus wanker' Dickens, fell from the emergency exit of the coach and had to be helped to safety by a Muslim gentleman. The whole hilarious fiasco can be read here.

Tommy turned up dressed as a rabbi along with JD leader, Roberta Moore. Rumours flew around Twitter that he has come dressed as a rabbit. Tommy was arrested the next day for breaking his bail conditions and spent four weeks in prison before being released. The whole farce pointed towards the fact that Batty Berta was still very much involved in the game, leading to speculation as to why Tommy had not shown her a straight red, and what she had over him.

Tommy went on hunger strike whilst in prison in protest at halal prison food but it turned out it only lasted 24 hours before he surrendered, whilst all the time patriots Joanne 'Bus Wanker' Dickens were praising his stance and raising money for his legal fund. Upon release, Tommy headed straight for a Halal Nandos.

The 9th September saw EDL News reveal the EDL's links with Nazi website Redwatch.

On the 11th September the EDL's long running problems in London continued after they turned up in football shirts and swilling beer at a 9/11 memorial ceremony outside the American embassy, intent on a drink fuelled fight with fellow extremists, Muslims Against Crusades (MAC).

Whilst families of British 9/11 victims prepared for a remembrance ceremony in the September 11th memorial garden, around 50 EDL members turned up early, sang their 'Eleven Muslim bombers, flying in the air' taunts and occupied the area where MAC were suppose to demonstrate.

During the ceremony, chants of 'E-E-EDL' disrupted proceedings and amongst the mourners, they were met with as equal distaste as MAC.

A smaller group of Muslims turned up to protest against both groups of extremists and carried banners reading "Muslims Against Extremism" and "If You Want Sharia, Move To Saudi".

Running battles broke out on London's Oxford Street and the day ended with two EDL members getting slightly stabbed. This shameful footage emerged after the event.

On the 16th September, Hope Not Hate published a story along with pictures of several EDL members posing with firearms and looking like twats. The EDL issued a statement claiming that they were not EDL members despite all involved being identified as members.

On the 27th September the EDL unveiled their latest paedophile. John Snowy Shaw of the EDL splitters, the North West Infidels, broke the news that Michael Coates aka Mickey Blue Eyes had been revealed as a habitual child sex attacker. He had used several false surnames in an effort to keep his identity concealed from his new partner.

Towards end the month, Tommy was found guilty of assault for the Alan McKee headbutting incident at Blackburn magistrates court.

Tommy head butted McKee, an ex British service man after he had tried to incite a lynching at the Blackburn demonstration earlier this year.

Despite the fact that he assaulted a member of the armed forces, calls were made on the EDL's Facebook page that he should be awarded a medal for his actions, not be taken to court.

The month ended with Tommy being found guilty of assault by Blackburn magistrates court.

Despite the fact that he’d assaulted a member of the armed forces, calls were made on the EDL's Facebook page that rather than be taken to court he should have been awarded a medal for his actions.

October

October started off in traditional fashion - badly. The EDL claimed that they had recruited QPR F ootballer, Joey Barton. Barton strenuously denied this, referring to them as 'a bunch of mentally deficient right wing numpties.' The EDL had tried to pull a similar stunt last year with Katie Price which pretty much ended the same way.

The EDL also started a sustained campaign against the Royal British Legion. A litany of lies were spread around their social networks, with false claims the charity was not going to collect in Birmingham to avoid offending ethnic minorities. This was far from the truth and the RBL ended up not collecting in Birmingham due to the EDL invading their launch. More on this later.

The 6th October saw the start of the 'Free Danny Parker' campaign. Parker was jailed for religiously aggravated harassment after an EDL mob targeted Barnsley’s Muslim Community Centre. The campaign was a spectacular failure failed from the beginning when his wife got involved and started threatening everyone with violence. His sentence was duly upheld at appeal due to the serious nature of the incident..

Also up in court were members of the Blackburn Division for their alleged part in the Brierfield incident.allegedly attacking Muslims and harassing a MEP. Bernard Holmes, David Victor Garratt, David Wilson, Graham Smith, Jason David Smith, John Michael English, Leanne Thornton, Leonard Stephen Hawley, Myles Bradley Davies, Paul Anthony Jackson and Paul Winston were all before Preston Crown Court.

On the 9th October, The EDL Angels held a demo outside Downing Street to complain that David Cameron had called them sick. EDL News published the reasons why most sane people think t hey are sick. Nat Snelling, Norwich Division fishwife did a convincing impression of a banshee as she was dragged screaming by plod.

Around 100 turned up drunk, mostly men and one commentator stated that they mostly smelt of body odour and stale beer. Homophobic chants were heard and one EDLer decided to pull a cheeky Nazi salute. They classified the day as a success but to everyone else, it looked like a bit of a disaster. They were largely ignored by everyone, including the prime minister.

In a campaign which has been the least successful since the Free Danny Parker campaign, the Free the Durham two campaign got off to a bad start, Steven James Vasey, 32, and 24-year-old Anthony Donald Smith were each jailed for twelve months for their parts in spraying a poppy on a mosque and attacking two locally Muslim owned businesses, one of which was selling poppies. The campaign for their release has still not grown legs and the leadership is mostly ignoring their plight.

On the 16th October, the EDL mostly lost their Merseyside and Liverpool Divisions who decided to go their own ways and be more openly fascist by reportedly smashing up bookshops, harassing the Occupy camp and attacking trade union offices. Tommy does not publicly like this naughtiness because he does not want to be seen as leading a fascist organisation even though everyone and their dog knows he does. So, perhaps a little jealous of all the fun the Infidels were having they decided to go their own way despite retaining the English Defence League's name

The West Midlands crew also got stuck into a spot of fascism when they attacked a Ahmadiyya Muslim book stall and Qur’an exhibition in Cradley Heath.

Notts Division settled for some fascism lite by targeting a local boy scouts group. The person who wrote the blog panicked when members were said to be on their away to attack some scouts.

A couple of days later the EDL got themselves embroiled in a massive Klu Klux Klan scandal after the Daily Mirror revealed that a member of their Biker's Division was the UK leader.

The month ended on the 29th October when the EDL took part in their much anticipated Birmingham demo. They had been to Birmingham before but got chased out by locals and anti fascists.

The demo was a bit of a PR disaster which lead to the Royal British Legion being forced to cancel their 90th anniversary poppy appeal launch in city centre due to the English Defence League holding their racist demonstration.

The RBL will not accept money from the English Defence League and it is widely thought that the organisation did not want to have their poppies connected with a crowd of drunken 'patriots' kicking off on the same day. The EDL tried to claim they generously gave the RBL permission to collect money at their demo.

The demo was a bit of a PR disaster which lead to the Royal British Legion being forced to cancel their 90th anniversary Poppy Appeal launch in the city due to the English Defence League holding their racist demonstration.

To try and temper the disastrous turnout and ill will, Tommy got his photo taken with magician Dynamo and claimed he had joined the EDL. Predictably he responded on Twitter stating that he did not know who the short arsed racist from Luton was and he is not into extremists. We contacted Dynamo to see if he could make Tommy disappear.

November

Things went quiet on the patriot scene for a couple of weeks until Tommy and Kev took another of their ill fated trips to the continent. This time to occupy FIFA’s roof in Zurich, to protest about the England team not being able to wear poppies.

They were largely ignored by the media and Prince Williams and David Cameron stepped into the row, at which point FIFA compromised.

Tommy and Kev were left on the roof for a few hours whilst the Prince and PM stole their thunder. Swiss plod nicked them, held them for a couple of days and let them go with massive fines.

This was convenient as they were out of the country for the Armistice day fiasco. 175 members arrived for the 11am ceremony, got drunk in the Red Lion Pub on Whitehall, abused the foreign bar staff, stole food, fought each other and got mass arrested by police. They had turned up to have a fight with Muslims Against Crusades even though Home Secretary Theresa May had banned MAC the previous day.

The mass arrest was thought to be down to the fact that their Facebook admin had issued direct threats to Occupy LSX The previous day and Commanding Officer of the Entire World of the Combined ex Forces, Michael Rafferty had publicly stated over Facebook secure comms that he was going to turn up in London and shoot some plod. Bizarrely Rafferty was questioned on the street by plod but not nicked. We suspect having seen his Facebook wall, plod could not be arsed taking him seriously.

Two days later, the admin of the EDL main Facebook page, who was the main cause for 175 fellow patriots getting nicked, decided that members should openly embrace white supremacism much to the delight of most of their supporters who want to be a bit more violent and white.

Another fall out of the Armistice day fiasco was that Michael Rafferty was sacked by the CxF for being a bit too renegade to be in charge of a bunch of renegades. CxF CO Mike Rafferty reacted by sacking the guy who tried to sack him and outing the traitors. There now appears to be two CxFs with two leaders and no one is sure which the real one is. Lyn Saddington was thrown out the the CxF for traitorous actions as she has been turfed out of just about every nationalistic movement. We tried to warn the CO of the Women's CxF but she was having none of it.

Due to the demos turning stale and good patriots getting bored/wanting a punch up/wanting to be more racist and leaving, Tommy decided to hook up with fluffy fascists, the British Freedom Party in an attempt to get a foothold on the electoral ladder.

A meeting was held somewhere in the West Midlands and the tie up was announced to much disinterest amongst those that are only into it for the 'Paki bashing' and a rather negative reaction from those who are in it for the politics but preferred the BNP. The leaked phone calls hardly helped.

The BFP thought it would give them a ready made electorate but it seems to be falling flat on it's arse.

The month ended up with EDL News outing the EDL's racist halfwit landlord who ran the Salisbury Arms pub in Cambridge. The story went viral and we had over 18,000 hits. The people of Cambridge were not happy and Ben Green was turfed out of his job and left Cambridge to continue his football hooligan career and being a general social misfit up north somewhere with violent thug, Liam Thompson. Rumours of an engagement are flying around the EDL News office.

December

December started in a similar vein to every other month. Ten members of the EDL's Newcastle Division were up in court for attacking the Tyneside Irish Centre where they incorrectly thought an SWP meeting was taking place. There were many recriminations and accusations of grassing etc. Six patriots were jailed for periods of between six to ten months, one being Alan Spence, the North East's regional co-ordinator, and his son.

Meanwhile, over in Stoke, two members of their local division were jailed for ten years each for trying blow up a mosque with a gas pipe, causing £50,000 work of damage.

Secure comms failure came into play once again on the 10th December when an EDLer decided it would be a good idea to announce he had placed a bomb in Birmingham Central Mosque. He was promptly arrested in a 5am raid and bailed. On the same night another announced on Facebook that he was going to attack a local Hindu temple. West Midland plod were quick to nick him also.

The rest of December was mainly made of of the EDL getting paranoid about hackers after Paul Stearne's internet security tips failed to keep ZHC at bay. Their main Paul Stearnes, the EDL's internetz security gurupage was taken again, their Free Tommy Robinson group and their Stockport Division's page also met an untimely death. Another casualty was their 'Sikhs who support the EDL' group. Unsurprisingly,it was discovered that there was not one Sikh admining the page. ZHC had pretty much decimated their online presence which was an important recruiting tool for like minded racists to get together, along with those that were a bit racist but were seeking out fellow racists to be racist with.

Well it has been a fun year with the EDL. They have had a constant battle against plod, anti fascists, their own errant members, their own splinter groups, their own errant leaders, local communities, Muslims, foreign plod, football fans and hackers.

Christmas is approaching and many 'patriots' will be stuck behind bars for falling foul of Britain's two tier Sharia law system.

For that reason, we wish each and every EDL member a happy Winterval and watch out for our 2011 awards which you can vote in, coming soon!

With thanks to Expose, Still Laughing at the EDL, @bantheedl @everythingedl and anyone we have missed!

Thanks to EDL News for this excellent round up.

I have made a few small changes to the layout and structure because of HTML issues with blogger and Joomla. John

It’s All Fall-Out With The Infidels!

2011-12-15T02:57:00.002Z

One of the continuing difficulties faced by the far right is their complete inability to agree on anything for very long. Massive fallouts and accusations of ‘grass’ and ‘backstabbing’ (with the occasional ‘nonce’ thrown in) are frequent on their internet forums and it seems that the Infidels are no different. In case you don’t know, the Infidels split off from the English Defence League because of Mr Tommy’s ‘pro-Zionism,’ multicultural racism and being over-friendly to the gays. The Infidels boldly declared their fascist agenda on Facebook and had their first ‘National’ demo in Leeds which was a piss poor turnout as evidenced by the photos posted on the net of them gurning whilst holding beer cans in the drizzle and being outnumbered by plod. This was bizarrely deemed a ‘success’ which was subsequently soured by internal criticisms over the fact that they looked like a bunch of beer swilling racists. Which is what they are. Following the demo some ended up in the Slug And Lettuce for a cup of tea and a bun whilst others headed off to the Hourglass Bar for something a bit more exotic. For ironically, the Hourglass is a gay bar and rumours that there is now a Gay Division in the homophobic Infidels are untrue.

North East Infidelity

Their next demo was in Newcastle where they hooked up with the tiny Scottish Defence League (6) – who are also anti-Tommyistas – and a little contingent of ageing racists from the National Front (8). This brief alliance descended into a drunken brawl over internal differences and was yet again symbolic of their complete inability to be agreeable. They all want to be Elton, no-one wants to be David! Fact! To make themselves feel better the few that weren’t too bruised or comatose went on to manfully jostle the peaceful folk at Newcastle Occupy. Given that Occupy is protesting corporate greed and social inequality we can only assume that the Infidels, like the EDL, are happy with that and are a scab organisation doing the work of the ruling classes for them. The Infidels then called a demo in Durham but no one turned up because it was a bit chilly.

And that’s about it. But now the Infidels, like the recently defunct Combined Ex-Forces, have imploded with the usual venomous recriminations and accusations of ‘grass’ and working for Special Branch. For there be two factions of Infidels, the North West and the North East and both of them are faring less than well. The NEI have just seen several members jailed for attacking the Newcastle Irish Centre. What happened was that the SWP had called a meeting at the Centre along the lines of ‘Smash The EDL’ which was a proverbial red rag to the bullshitters of the NEI. The SWP then cancelled the meeting after threats had been made but this did not deter the brave Infidels who turned up anyway and attacked the bouncers. Sadly for the Infidels, the whole thing was filmed on CCTV and many of the Infidels were consequently rounded up and sent to the choky, including failed BNP candidate Alan Spence (who is 46! Crivvens!). Spence was arrested with his son and will now be tucking into the Christmas turkey twizzlers behind bars. Shame. Plod has released images of the remaining gang members who are no doubt currently shitting themselves over their inevitable prison sentences. The SWP are not that astute when it comes to security and using inflammatory statements like ‘Smash The EDL’ is a bad idea. Wise up Trotskyites and try reading the bearded one on worker’s anti-fascist defence. Oh, I forgot, we can’t endorse ‘squadism’ can we?

And it goes on …

The NEI are accusing one Colin Bell of grassing up the Irish Centre attackers and he is currently ‘maintaining Facebook silence.’ No doubt when the thugs are let out next year they will seeking out Mr Bell to help ‘clarify the situation.’ Meanwhile, over the Pennines North West Infidel John ‘Snowy’ Shaw has been hoofed out of his Facebook pages and has fumingly started up another one (11 likes so far and counting!). Snowy, (llama farmer, no charmer and bad karma) carries the whiff of the prison yard about him and is best known for the early EDL rooftop protest in the Midlands. Mr Tommy raised funds to help Snowy the ‘political prisoner’ which are allegedly ‘unaccounted for,’ just like the money Mr Tommy raised for crack and cocaine using child porn aficionado Richard Price when he was arrested. Not only that, but the NWI are mourning the fact that their big man Mr B, or Bernard Holmes of Blackburn, was refused bail this week. He is currently serving a sentence for attacking someone and leaving them with brain damage. Nice man. To make things worse, Connor McCoy has threatened to pull the plug on their page unless he gets the Infidels/SDL flag back from Blackburn Division and he has fallen out with Snowy.

So it’s all fall-out with the beleaguered Infidels: shite turnouts, internal violence, several members jailed, people being ostracised and accused of being grasses and an alarming lack of unity all round. All in all a typical day for the far right then. Well done.

STOP PRESS: 2 EDL jailed for 10 years each after arson attempt on a mosque. See our friends at EDL News for further details.

Thanks to Malatesta for the article.

Far-right author kills two, then self in Florence

2011-12-14T20:26:00.004Z

Gianluca Casseri

An Italian far-right author shot dead two Senegalese vendors and wounded three in Florence on Tuesday before killing himself in a daylight shooting spree that prompted outpourings of grief in the historic city.

Witnesses said they saw the gunman calmly getting out of a car at a street market on Piazza Dalmazia, north of the city centre, and firing off three shots that instantly killed two vendors and seriously wounded a third.

The white assailant, identified by authorities as 50-year-old Gianluca Casseri, then moved on to the San Lorenzo market in the centre -- a popular destination for the thousands of tourists who visit Florence every day -- where he wounded two more vendors. Casseri then turned the gun -- a Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver according to news reports -- on himself after he was surrounded by police.

Around 200 Senegalese marched through the city in an angry protest after the shootings, shouting "Shame!" and "Racists!" Hundreds of immigrants were later seen praying on their knees in tears in front of Florence's famous cathedral.

"The heart of Florence is crying today," Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi said in a Twitter message, declaring the city would hold a day of mourning Wednesday and would pay to repatriate the bodies to Senegal.

"I think the pain for the lives that have been cut short is not only for the Senegalese community but for all the citizens of our city," Renzi said.

International Cooperation and Integration Minister Andrea Riccardi and a Senegalese imam will attend a ceremony at Florence city hall on Wednesday.

"The Senegalese are good people, people who never get into trouble, who work every day," one Senegalese man told news channel SkyTG24. Another man said: "These lads who were killed were only earning money for their wives, their fathers, their children."

Roccangelo Tritto, a spokesman for local Carabinieri police, told AFP that the man wounded at Piazza Dalmazia would live but remain paralysed for life. The other two men were also in a serious condition -- one with a wound to the abdomen and another shot in the chest.

Casseri was the author of fantasy novels including "The Key of Chaos" about a wizard, a mathematician and an alchemist, which enjoyed some popularity. He also wrote an academic paper about Dracula folklore and was the editor of a niche magazine about fantasy and horror fiction and comics.

Casseri lived on his own in the Tuscan countryside near Pistoia. He was also a member of Casa Pound, a right-wing community group that is seen as more intellectual than other far-right organisations.

"He was a bit strange, a bit of a loner but he didn't seem crazy. He was living in his own world," said Fabio Barsanti, a regional coordinator for Casa Pound.

"He didn't seem capable of doing something like this," he said, adding: "We are against any type of violence. We consider the Senegalese humans like us."

Barsanti said Casseri was known locally mostly as a World War I buff.

While Casa Pound distanced itself from Casseri's actions, left-wingers were quick to pin the blame on a climate of racism in the country. Walter Veltroni, a lawmaker from the centre-left Democratic Party, said the shootings were "a terrorist attack by a right-wing extremist."

"What happened in Florence is the product of a climate of intolerance against foreigners that has grown over the years," he said.

Nichi Vendola, leader of the Left, Ecology and Liberty party, condemned what he said was "a racist and fascist Italy that sows hatred."

At the scene of the first shooting in Piazza Dalmazia, eyewitnesses quoted by Italian media said they were in shock and a newspaper seller said the gunman told him: "Get out of the way or I'll bump you off next."

"I heard the shots but I thought they were fireworks. Then I turned around and I saw three men on the ground in a pool of blood," one vendor said.

Another man said: "There are often Senegalese guys here who sell the usual stuff, they don't bother anyone and no one was expecting this."

African vendors can be seen on the streets of Italy's main cities selling sculptures, trinkets and fake designer handbags. They are often selling their wares illegally but are popular with tourists and local residents.

AFP

BNP’s Nick Griffin set to address UCC society on free speech

2011-12-13T20:55:00.003Z

Some fat bastard simpers at the cameras

British National Party leader and MEP Nick Griffin is expected to attend a UCC debate in the New Year, just months after a Trinity College student society withdrew its invitation for the controversial politician to visit.

The UCC Government and Politics Society says Griffin has accepted its invitation to speak in a debate on the importance of free speech in modern society. The society’s chairperson Ben English told TheJournal.ie that its invitation to Griffin “is by no means a defence of what he has to say, rather it is a defence of his right to say it”.

English said Griffin will face an as-yet-unnamed second speaker in a chaired debate on free speech before taking questions from the floor.

The society decided to invite him after his invitation to address a student group at Trinity College was withdrawn recently. English said that the student group wanted to stand up in support of free speech, adding that free speech is not objective: “We can’t decide who gets freedom of speech.”

In these kinds of situations, and in Trinity’s case, college groups should not cave to outside pressures, English said.

“You need to make tough decisions and bring in people who are going to cause a bit of controversy; in the long-run it’s an event that needs to be held. People need to see something new. Our society is trying to move away from the discourse and get people talking,” he said. “The society’s main goal is to encourage students who are generally politically apathetic to engage in debate.”

English said the society has met with college staff to notify them of the event and to put “strict plans in place” to ensure the safety of staff, students and Griffin. The college has indicated it will facilitate the event, he added.

The BNP confirmed to TheJournal.ie today that Griffin is interested in participating in the debate and has accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the party said the MEP would answer any questions put to him by the debate participants or audience.

Opposition

The UCC Labour Society says it plans to campaign against Griffin’s visit to the college. Chair of the society Dean Duke told TheJournal.ie that the Labour Soc last night agreed to boycott a joint trip planned between it and the UCC Government and Politics Soc to Leinster House. Duke said his group does not accept that Griffin’s invitation to speak is really a free speech issue and that his “intolerant views” should not be accommodated:

Nick Griffin is free to say what he likes (within the confines of the law), but that doesn’t mean that a UCC society should be hosting him. There’s a difference between allowing free speech and giving someone a platform and an audience.

Withdrawn

The BNP leader was due to participate in a debate on immigration at Trinity’s Philosophical Society in October, but the society withdrew its invitation after the college said it could not guarantee the safety of the event’s attendees. The society said that while it supports Griffin’s right to speak on the issue of immigration, it felt it had “no other responsible choice” but to cancel the debate over safety concerns.

Griffin accused people protesting his Trinity appearance of using “fascist methods” to disrupt the event. He also said he complained to gardaí about the protests which disrupted a separate society event and led to the cancellation of the one he was to attend.

A date for the UCC events has not been confirmed, but it is expected to take place in late February 2012.

TheJournal.ie

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up