Birmingham EDL demo given two-hour time limit

Demonstrators from the English Defence League have been slapped with a two-hour time limit on their protests in a fresh bid to prevent scenes of violence which have marred previous visits.

West Midlands Police had also told the group that their protest must take place in Centenary Square and must be over by 3pm. Conditions have also been imposed on the community event, ‘Unity and Celebration of Differences’ and any counter demonstration.

Organisers have been told that their event can last no longer than three-and-a-half hours and must be over by 4pm. They must also confine the activities to Chamberlain Square.

The EDL said they were expecting between 700 to 2,500 of its members to turn up. The last time the far-right group was in Birmingham was in 2009 and it ended in ugly scenes of violence and dozens of arrests as they clashed with members of the Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

Asst Chief Con Marcus Beale, who will lead the policing operation, said: “We have to balance the desires of those involved with the safety requirements for the event, and ultimately this has to take precedence.

“We want people to feel reassured and in response to community concerns, we will be staging a large-scale operation on the day to ensure that everyone who comes to the city centre, be it to take part in the protests, or to go about their day to day business, can do so in safety.”

Birmingham Mail

MP urges police to ban English Defence League demo in Birmingham

Fears of more violence on the streets of Birmingham have been raised after it emerged the English Defence League was planning a second march in the city.

The organisation’s supporters are set to take to the streets on October 29, more than two years after their last visit ended in confrontations with anti-fascist groups. The Unite Against Fascism group, whose supporters clashed with EDL followers during clashes in Birmingham in 2009, has also announced plans for a counter-demonstration in Birmingham on the same day.

Selly Oak Labour MP Steve McCabe urged West Midlands Police to apply to Home Secretary Theresa May for the EDL protest to be banned as it would cost too much money to patrol. Two protests by the EDL in Dudley last year cost West Midlands Police and Dudley Council £1.1 million.

“I used to say that the EDL should be allowed to demonstrate but having seen the trouble they cause, I’ve changed my mind,” Mr McCabe said. “Birmingham people can’t afford to waste that much money on policing and repairing the damage to our retail area. These things are deliberately organised to cause maximum destruction. There’s no element of normal demonstration. This is a rag bag of extremism looking to cause trouble and I don’t think the Birmingham people deserve it.”

The exact location of the EDL’s Birmingham event was being kept secret until nearer the time but 575 supporters had confirmed their attendance online yesterday.

Unite Against Fascism confirmed it was organising an anti-EDL demonstration, to start at noon in High Street. A spokesman said: “The EDL wants to bring its vicious, anti-Muslim racist hatred to the multi-racial, multi-cultural city.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said they were liaising with police. A police spokesman said: “West Midlands Police is aware of a planned protest in Birmingham city centre on October 29. As on previous occasions, police have no power to ban a static protest.

“Police will be monitoring the situation to ensure maintenance of public order and officers will be deployed throughout the city centre to provide a visible reassurance to retailers, shoppers and all those visiting Birmingham. Any criminal or public order offences will be robustly dealt with.”

Birmingham Mail

NF imitating the BNP?

Much to our amusement the wheels also appear to have come off the National Front election campaign this morning.

We reported yesterday that the NF had announced it would stand candidates across England and Scotland. The NF was very pleased with itself. Not for long, however.

Following the close of nominations it quickly became apparent that the NF had actually failed to get its nomination papers into Birmingham council in time and was therefore ineligible to stand any candidates in the city. This is the first time that anyone at Searchlight can remember the NF not standing in Birmingham.

Only the day before, the NF website had announced six candidates in Birmingham, in Kingstanding, New Oscott, Quinton, Shard End, Sheldon and South Yardley. The website was hastily amended in an attempt to hide the truth of the party’s incompetence.

Whoever runs it does not appear to have told the NF’s press officer Tom Linden. When Searchlight phoned him earlier, Linden had absolutely no knowledge that Birmingham NF had fumbled the ball. Indeed he thought Birmingham NF was standing nine candidates not six. The left hand clearly does not know what the right hand is doing. When we rang back for further comment Linden had turned his phone off.

It would seem that it is not just BNP candidates who are doing a disappearing act.

Thanks to Hope not Hate

Birmingham EDL demo off?

We've just been informed that the planned EDL demo in Birmingham is off and instead the EDL intends to take itself off to Blackburn, Lancashire on April 2nd. Anyone got any more on this?

Calls for Cameron to ban EDL as they announce Birmingham protest

The English Defence League (EDL) has announced a demonstration in the city next month – prompting a city councillor to call on the Prime Minister to ban the group.

Coun Tariq Khan (Lib Dem, Washwood Heath) said Mr Cameron should target all forms of extremism including the EDL.

Following a protest in Luton on Saturday, the group announced on its Facebook page a demonstration in Birmingham on March 19. Its last demo in the city in August 2009 erupted into violence as members clashed with those from anti-fascist groups.

Coun Khan said the police, local authorities and the government should put a stop to the movement once and for all for the sake of community cohesion. He said: “The authorities need to put their foot down and say enough is enough. They (the EDL) are a bunch of trouble makers who have nothing better to do.’’

Mr Cameron caused controversy on Saturday when he criticised state multiculturalism and signalled a tough stance on Islamic extremism. Coun Kan said: ‘‘David Cameron said it’s time to clamp down on Islamic extremism. I say, clamp down on the EDL. Let’s have some consistency.’’

Mr Cameron’s comments came as the EDL held a major demonstration in Luton, prompting accusations that he was playing into the hands of the far-right by targetting Islamic extremists.

Birmingham Mail

Travel ban for English Defence League Birmingham men

Two English Defence League supporters have been banned from joining protests outside their home city for 10 years

Richard Price, 41, and Collum Keyes, 23, were given Anti-social Behaviour Orders (Asbo) restricting their protests to Birmingham until 2020. Police said it was the first time the ban had been applied to anyone linked to the group, which says it is against Islamic extremism and terrorism.

The pair previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a march in May. They had also pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour during the protest in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and were sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday.

Judge Lord Parmoor sentenced Price to 12 weeks in prison and and fined Keyes £150. He said both men travelled with the group to foment disorder and gave them a 10-year Asbo to stop them taking part in or controlling any protest more than 10 miles away from Birmingham city centre. They have also been banned from distributing any material for the group or encouraging others to attend protests outside the city.

Det Con Andy Haworth, of the National Domestic Extremism Unit, said: "While the defence leagues are entitled to protest, violence has been a persistent feature of their demonstrations, and we hope the success of today's application will prevent that violence."

Pc Mike Ellis, of Thames Valley Police, said: "This is a clear signal to those who would use violence and disorder to further their extreme and racist views, to intimidate and create fear within minority communities."

BBC

The Extremist Defence League

Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) with Alan Spence (Inset) Spence with BNP leader Nick Griffin

The English Defence League likes to parrot its worn out mantra, “We are not the BNP and we are not nazis”, over and over again. Simon Cressy takes a closer look and finds a different story.

Is the EDL racist? People have asked the question since the inception of the EDL back in summer 2009. The EDL itself says on its website: “Some organisations and media reports have branded the EDL as ‘racist’, ‘fascist’, ‘far-right’, or even ‘Zionist’. All of these accusations are flat out untrue. We take an actively anti-racist and anti-fascist stance.”

As always the EDL is being economical with the truth. There can be no argument over the EDL’s racism as the organisation is full to the brim with known BNP members together with a number of hardcore nazis, who are using the EDL as a vehicle to further their vehement xenophobia.

Despite being proscribed by Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, BNP activists regularly attend EDL events.

The EDL leader parades around as Tommy Robinson and hid his identity behind a mask for over a year until Searchlight uncovered the fact that he is a former BNP member called Stephen Yaxley-Lennon who has served 12 months’ imprisonment for assaulting an off-duty police officer.

Robinson’s cousin Kevin Carroll is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the EDL. In July he lost his appeal against his conviction for shouting abuse at Islamic protesters at the Luton homecoming parade for the Royal Anglian Regiment. It was the events in Luton in March 2009 that prompted the EDL’s formation.

He insists he is not racist, yet he revealed in a BBC documentary, Young, British and Angry, that he had signed the nomination papers in the 2007 Luton council elections for Robert Sherratt, a BNP candidate and activist in the tiny nazi November 9th Society. Carroll apparently was very keen to stand as a BNP candidate himself but was prevented by his partner’s intervention.

Other founding members of the EDL are also known to have been BNP members and activists.

Davy Cooling from Daventry and Chris Renton of Weston-super-Mare were fully paid up members of the BNP, with Renton described as an “activist”.

One face seen at most EDL events is Alan Spence from Newcastle upon Tyne. Spence is pretty much now the EDL organiser in Newcastle, but in May 2010 he stood as the BNP parliamentary candidate in Newcastle East where he received 3.5% of the vote. He also contested Kenton ward on Newcastle City Council, where he finished in last place with 7.3%.

Spence, who is a BNP gold member and has only recently deleted swastikas and Combat 18 images from his Facebook page, has appeared in photographs with both his spiritual leaders, Griffin and Robinson.

Often accompanying Spence to EDL events is his son Steven who also sought election to Newcastle City Council in May as the BNP candidate in Fawdon ward.

Rob Purcell

Another regular at EDL protests is Rob Purcell, the former Birmingham BNP organiser. Purcell, who hides his identity on Facebook by using the moniker “Rob Jones”, joined the BNP in 1997 and has stood in local, parliamentary and European elections. He makes a tidy living selling BNP and EDL tat on Ebay using the strange nickname “Brit Pancake”.

Stuart Bates and Michael Fritz have attended various EDL demonstrations. Both are from Birmingham but that is not all they have in common, as they are both trusted members of the BNP West Midlands security team. In fact Bates is so highly regarded that he was drafted in to provide security for Griffin at the BBC Question Time fiasco and at his High Court appearance last month.

It seems the BNP security team has a penchant for the EDL as Jock Shearer, a convicted drug dealer and BNP bodyguard, appeared at last month’s 9/11 “flash” protest by the EDL in Oldham.

Dave Bradley, a BNP activist from Blackburn who turned up at the High Court to support Griffin, is also regular EDL participant. He is known to be close to the Blackburn EDL leader Shane Calvert.

Charlie Baillie and Max Dunbar, both seen with the EDL in Bradford on 28 August, were Scottish BNP candidates in the 2009 European election.

Also at Bradford was the former Wakefield BNP organiser John Aveyard, who was recently released from prison after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend. On Aveyard’s coat tails was another BNP candidate from Wakefield, Grant Rowe.

Other BNP candidates who have taken part in EDL protests include Karen Otty from Liverpool, the Rotherham BNP organiser Marlene Guest and Sion Owens, the Swansea BNP organiser. Owens was photographed at the Swansea Welsh Defence League demonstration with a group of well known hardcore nazis including Wayne Baldwin, an EDL regular. Baldwin, a convicted criminal, is an unabashed nazi who has the obligatory swastika tattoo on his chest and has been photographed posing in front of a swastika flag.

Two other nazis who have attended EDL events are now languishing in jail. Trevor Hannington and Mike Heaton were both convicted in June. Members of the shadowy nazi Aryan Strike Force, they were jailed for posting violent and vicious racist messages on the internet.

Heaton, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, and Hannington, from Cardiff, described Jews as “scum” and called for them to be “destroyed”. Heaton was found guilty of stirring up racial hatred and jailed for 30 months. Hannington pleaded guilty to the same charge and other offences and was imprisoned for two years.

The EDL might like to think it is not racist, but the proof is in the pudding. As the BNP implodes many of its activists are finding a new home in the EDL.

Leon McCreery

The English Defence League’s head steward comes from a notorious UDA family in East Belfast.

Leon McCreery, who now lives in Stockport, is the nephew of the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer David McCreery.

His father, Leonard McCreery, is a convicted UDA thug who served 11 years in prison for the attempted murder of Geordie Legge, a leading member of the paramilitary UDA and the Ulster Freedom Fighters, in 1997. Legge sus-tained knife wounds to the heart and twice died on the way to hospital but was revived by paramedics in the ambulance.

Leonard McCreery believed Legge was responsible for the murder of his brother Ned five years earlier. Ned McCreery was an East Belfast UDA brigadier who met a bloody end when he was murdered by the UFF after they labelled him a police agent.

Leon McCreery, now 28, fled Belfast in 1999 with his mother, brother and sister after he was attacked and slashed in the face by rival loyalists. He required 63 stitches and 17 staples for head and body wounds. In 2004 he was awarded £25,000 compensation.

Despite all this Leon McCreery still displays pro-UDA sentiments on his Facebook page.

Hope not Hate

EDL Walsall demo cancelled

The controversial English Defence League have called off a planned demonstration against a proposed mosque in Walsall after learning that the biggest single group opposed to the scheme are Muslims. George Makin reports.

The anti-Islamic EDL had announced they would hold a demonstration on June 19 against a scheme to build a new place of worship in Vicarage Close which had previously been denied planning permission by the Walsall council. Proposers of the development have announced their intention to appeal the decision.

The EDL’s proposed demonstration led to a joint statement by the leaders of all three party leaders on Walsall council, fearful of a repeat of violent clashes which have occurred at other EDL events, that the rightwing group was not wanted in the town.

During negotiations with police EDL organiser were surprised to learn the original planning application had been opposed by many Muslims in Walsall who claim there are enough mosques in the borough already.

The EDL are now planning for a demonstration in Dudley on June 19 and for another in Alum Rock in Birmingham at a later date.

The Stirrer

St Philips barrister resigns to stand for BNP in general election

A tax barrister at Birmingham’s St Philips Chambers who went to the same Cambridge University college as British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin has resigned from the set so he can fight a seat for the party at the upcoming general election.

Robert Grierson, who was until today a door tenant specialising in tax, trusts and wills and estate work, intends to contest the Sutton Coldfield seat at the forthcoming general election.

The BNP website states: “Barrister Robert Grierson will contest the Sutton Coldfield constituency […] Mr Grierson who was educated at King Edward’s School, which was the school that Enoch Powell attended [sic]. Robert then went on to attend Downing College Cambridge, the same college where Nick Griffin MEP received his higher education.”

In a statement St Philips said: “Robert Grierson has resigned from his position as a door tenant of St Philips Chambers from 25 March 2010. He accepted that his candidacy in the forthcoming election was a distraction to the proper work and approach of St Philips Chambers, its members and its staff. As far as St Philips Chambers is aware Mr Grierson remains in practice as a barrister as a sole practitioner from his home address, which has in fact been the position since December 2008.

“It is reiterated that St Philips Chambers was not aware that Mr Grierson was a member of the BNP and further that any views Mr Grierson purports to hold or express in the forthcoming election must be taken to be his own personal views and not that of St Philips Chambers or any of its members. Apparently he joined the BNP in September 2009, a significant time after ceasing to be a member of chambers.”

Christine Kings, chambers director at Outer Temple Chambers, highlighted the fact that the Bar Council’s equality code requires sets to have an equality and diversity policy in place, adding that St Philips could have been ostracised due to Grierson’s BNP membership.

“If I were a solicitor and concerned about equality and diversity I wouldn’t instruct a chambers that didn’t take action on this,” she said, adding: “I couldn’t stay in a chambers that had a member of the BNP as a member and expect that many colleagues would find it difficult. Many chambers have constitutions that will provide for suspension or dismissal of a member - it will depend on the terms of a constitution.”

A judge at Central London County Court recently ruled that the BNP’s constitution, which no longer restricts membership along racial lines, but requires members to uphold the “integrity of the indigenous British” was still likely to be discriminatory.

Maurice Cousins, a researcher at the campaign group Nothing British about the BNP, said: “If you look at the Front National in France, it has a long history of attracting doctors, lawyers and even a few millionaires. This is emblematic of how the BNP has become more respectable to some individuals in the professions - this is a new breed of candidate. It’s a bit of a stain on the legal profession.”

The Lawyer

Birmingham barrister set to stand as BNP election candidate

A Birmingham barrister is set to stand in the General Election as a BNP candidate, according to the party’s website

Robert Grierson will contest Sutton Coldfield – which is held by Conservative Andrew Mitchell with a majority of more than 12,000.

Mr Grierson has been a barrister for 18 years specialising in tax, trust, wills and estates work. He is currently a door tenant at St Philip Chambers in Birmingham city centre, which means he works with the Chambers but is not a member.

James Burbidge QC, head of the Chambers, said he was previously unaware of his involvement with the BNP.

“Mr Grierson’s political persuasions, his beliefs and his association with the British National Party were not known to Chambers when he applied for and was accepted for a door tenancy,” Mr Burbidge said. “As is well known across the Midlands and in the wider legal community, St Philips Chambers operate a strict non-discriminatory policy towards its members, staff, lay and professional clients and members of the public alike.”

Mr Grierson and the BNP were unavailable for comment but he told the BNP website he believed he had a chance of making an impact on May 6.

“I am certain I can provide an effective challenge to the sitting Tory MP in Sutton Coldfield,” he said.

According to the website, Mr Grierson was born in Witton and educated at King Edward’s School before attending Downing College Cambridge, the same as BNP leader Nick Griffin.

MP Tom Watson (Lab, West Bromwich East) said the revelation that a barrister was standing in the West Midlands for the BNP would trouble many in the business community. He said: “I’m sure no self-respecting business would want to use the services of a barrister standing for a party which holds such extreme views.”

Birmingham Mail

A long view - July to October

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Iliacus. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

In among all the hype and hoopla following the appearance of some bloke from the BNP on some late-night television programme, I thought it would be interesting to review BNP performance over the past few months, from the beginning of July (as the effects of the Euro elections started to ease off) to the end of October.

During that period there were no fewer than 94 local authority byelections; the BNP fought 26 (28%). There is some evidence that their ability to field candidates has weakened. In July they fought eight seats out of twenty-three (35%); in August 2/9 (22%); September 8/24 (33%); October 8/38 (21%). Perhaps eight is their magic number above which they cannot climb!

Seventeen of the 94 wards had seen a BNP candidate at a recent previous election. No fewer than seven of these were abandoned at the byelection, a very significant feature, and which underlines one of the party's greatest weaknesses - its inability to maintain activist interest and commitment. In three of these wards they had previously polled in excess of 14% of the vote, so it's not just a case of walking away from hopeless areas.

There are therefore ten seats in which a comparison can be made with their performance in (normally) the preceding election. In nine of these their vote share fell. The only exception was the rather unusual Boston byelection on 15th October where their vote share leapt from 20.6% in June to 37.7% in October. They may well have benefitted from the unusual circumstances of the vacancy, and the withdrawal of UKIP and a local Independent Group from the fray (who had taken 15.6% in June), but it still represented a good night for the BNP and a worryingly close result for the rest of us (they finished just 16 votes adrift of the victorious Conservative candidate).

That, however, was the only good news for the BNP. In every other contest their share of the vote fell. I have illustrated this by listing the percentage of vote share retained (PVSR). It is easier to give an example than to define this idea. If they previously took 40% and now took 20% then the PVSR would be 50; if they polled 10% then the PVSR would be 25. An increased share of the vote would give a PVSR of 100+. I have used this technique rather than the more usual change in vote share as the latter is difficult to set in context. Under change in vote share a fall from 28% to 23% 'looks' the same as 10% to 5%, whereas it's actually a very different outcome.

So, excluding the Boston result (PVSR 183!), the PVSR in the remaining nine seats was: 58 54 64 53 46 42 62 59 77

In only one case did their vote share fall by less than a quarter; in two cases their vote share fell by more than half. On average they lost 43% of their vote share in these wards. The samples are pretty small, but the general trend is of performance worsening from July into September, then recovering in October. Whether this recovery is real and sustainable remains to be seen.

They contested 16 'new' seats over the five month period. Looking at some old notes I found that in February 2009 they averaged 22% in 'new' seats (boosted by the extraordinary 41% - and seat gained - in Swanley). The highest share of the vote achieved in a first-time seat in the July to October period was 13.6%! In eight of the wards - precisely half of them - they polled under 10%. A rolling average, based on the five most recent examples, shows a drift downward from 10.5% at the end of July to 9.3% at the end of October.

And so to the seven 'abandoned' seats - wards previously contested, but in which no byelection candidate was fielded. One of these was an inner-city Birmingham seat at which they had previously polled a miserable 1.5% so withdrawal might indicate a rare case of political sense! But in the other six cases only one had a previous vote share under 10%, and three had recorded vote shares between 14 and 16%.

Now I shall leave it to my readers to interpret the above as they see fit, but I feel it indicates a poor summer and early autumn for the BNP. I also feel there are some useful 'benchmarks' against which the party's progress (or regress hopefully!) can be assessed, and I shall suggest the following:

a) percentage of byelections contested each month Oct 09 21%
ai) two-month rolling average Sep/Oct 26%
b) rate of contesting previously fought seats each month Oct 09 50%
c) percentage share of the vote retained (past 10 byelections but excluding the best and the worst to avoid being affected by 'freak' results under special circumstances) Oct 09 59%
d) rolling average (past 5 results) of vote share in 'new' wards Oct 09 9.3%
e) rolling average (past 5 results) of vote share in 'abandoned' seats Oct 09 11.1%

The purpose of a and ai is hopefully obvious; b assesses their ability to continue to maintain activist involvement by contesting elections; c assesses performance in areas of sustained activity; d assesses progress - or otherwise - in opening up new areas; e indicates the effects of member disenchantment, and whether they are simply standing down in weak areas, or struggling in areas of past strength.

Good news - from our perspective - would be to see a) ai) b) c) and d) all falling, and e) rising. Anyway, I shall look forward to updating these figures in due course to see whether it does give us a useful tool in assessing their performance.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the overall BNP performance across the five months was: No Holds, no Gains, one Loss - overall minus 1 seat. Happy days!

That EDL demo: some unanswered questions

Following last month’s disturbances in Birmingham during an English Defence League demo, when more than 90 people were arrested, The Stirrer reckons there are still some unanswered questions for West Midlands Police.

We’re raising these issues not as an exercise in “police bashing” or because we want to rake over the embers of an unhappy day in the city’s history. Rather, we hope that lessons can be learnt so that similar incidents aren’t repeated in future.

We’re voicing concerns raised by councillors, concerned citizens and community groups, and in a spirit of openness we guarantee to publish WMP's response in in full.

Here are some key issues arising from the events of September 5 which we think still need addressing.

1) Was it really impossible to ban the demo?

This was frequent refrain from both West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member for Equalities Alan Rudge. The leader of the opposition city’s Labour group Sir Albert Bore disagrees saying that in 2001, the government used what he admits were “draconian” powers to ban the National Front holding a rally in Stechford. Bore argues that the same legislation could have been enforced against the EDL.

2) Why were the EDL allowed to reach Victoria Square?

The EDL meeting point in Broad Street was well advertised so how were their supporters able to slip away en masse to Victoria Square and New Street where mayhem ensued? Despite the use of spotters, CCTV etc there was no police presence to greet them.

3) Why did West Midlands Police decide to issue Fixed Penalty Notices against EDL members instead of prosecuting them?

The EDL were escorted out of the city on buses, and a number of their supporters were issued with Fixed Penalty Notices. Wouldn’t formal prosecution have been a more effective long-term deterrent?

4) Has there been any formal report from the community observer or the representative of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary who were present in the control room?

What did these independent observers make of the policing operation?

5) Why did West Midlands Police need support from across the region and even from the Met?

Given that there were no major football matches in the region on that day, couldn’t it the operation have been handled from local resources?

6) Response to the prospect of a further EDL visit to Alum Rock?

Although the EDL vowed not to return to Birmingham, there were widespread rumours that they (or an allied grouo) were planning a demo in Alum Rock recently. Were West Midlands Police aware of this, and if so, how did they respond to fears in the community?

We look forward to the WMP response.

The Stirrer

Violence in Birmingham - authorities to blame

Racist and violent hooligans, the English Defence League, complete with BNP T-shirts

BBC video of the demo can be seen here

DCI Sue Southern of West Midlands police has tonight described the trouble on the streets of Birmingham as “unexpected”. Unfortunately it wasn’t and over 2,500 people who wrote in to protest to Birmingham City Council knew as much.

Violence in Birmingham – authorities to blame

Unfortunately violence erupted on the streets of Birmingham this afternoon as the hooligan followers of the English Defence League descended on the city centre. While reports are sketchy, it seems that the hooligans ignored agreements with police and ran through New Street. According to press reports at the height of the trouble over 250 were involved in the trouble.

Sadly it was all too predictable. For several days Searchlight and others have been warning the authorities of the potential trouble. The English Defence League is a collection of racist football hooligans from around the country and their sole intention is to whip up hatred. With several of its leaders already well known to the police as football hooligans it is hardly a surprise that violence has erupted today. However, despite the obvious the authorities repeatedly told us that they had the situation under control.

They did not and they should be held accountable. West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council have failed the people of Birmingham and should be held to account.

Hope not hate

Their lies, our strength

BNP leader Nick Griffin went on air last month to distance the BNP from the hooligan protests. As usual what he did not admit was that many of the leading figures in the Luton protest are BNP supporters. Just like Oldham in 2001, Griffin denied responsibility while his own followers were inciting hatred and violence.

When the English Defence League announced its intention to hold a protest in Luton we were faced with two options. We could have called a counter-protest and mobilised the local community and anti-fascists to occupy the streets or we could call on the authorities to ban the march.

In normal circumstances we would have preferred the first option. Mobilising communities can be an empowering process but these are not ordinary times and the stakes are too high. There was a very serious risk of major disorder in Luton if the march had gone ahead – be it from the hooligans and fascists or the local community, which quite understandably wanted to defend its neighbourhoods.

We decided that any disorder would have been a disaster. It would have driven a firm wedge between communities in Luton and also had national ramifications. With the strength of the BNP and Islamophobia it is trouble we could least afford.

Anti-fascists must accept that we too have a responsibility to the people we claim to represent. Yes the fascists must be challenged wherever they raise their heads but it is also important that we are sensitive to the consequences of our actions. Stopping the fascists holding a meeting is pointless if we then have to endure three days of adverse publicity which leaves local people – the very people we want to keep away from the BNP – feeling sympathy for them. Likewise, burning the Union Jack in a city centre is hardly likely to win over ordinary shoppers.

It was precisely because of our concerns over the consequences of a march that we called for the protest to be banned. However, the manner in which we did it mobilised and empowered people. The Home Office banned the march because of the actions of thousands of people who got involved in our campaign. Over the coming months the hooligans and BNP will again try to whip up hatred and division. They need to be opposed but in a responsible manner which gives thought to the consequences and empowers people along the way.

Hope not hate

Hope not hate is campaigning to get Saturday's equally-dangerous march in Birmingham cancelled. Despite an amazing 1427 letters objecting to it landing in the Council's inbox, it seems that they're still unwilling to budge.

We have received information that football hooligans from across the West and East Midlands, the South West, Wales and the Home Counties are preparing to descend on Birmingham on Saturday. They will be meeting outside the city centre and marching in as a mob. We cannot allow this to happen.

To ramp up the pressure on the Council, Nick Lowles of Searchlight/Hope not hate is planning to send a letter to each of the Councillors, and the local media, in the next 24 hours demanding they put a stop to it. But to make the impact we need, we need a headline number. We're aiming for 2000 letters to be sent to the Councillors before Nick sends his. we'd like your help in meeting this goal - can you invite your friends to contact the Council about the march as well?

We've set up an easy-to-use tool to help you reach out to your friends - with your help we can get over 2000 people involved. We've had great success stopping these types of marches before. But this didn't happen by chance. It happened because people like you and me were willing to stand up and make a difference. Please contact your friends and get them to put pressure on the council.

To send a message yourself, click here.
To enlist the support of your friends, click here.

Here we go again....

Last week we ran a successful campaign to stop a right wing Islamophobic football hooligan march through the streets of Luton. Over 14,000 letters were sent to the Home Secretary and Chief Constable of Bedfordshire police within 24 hours. It proved decisive and the march was subsequently banned.

Now we need your help once again. On Saturday 5 September the right wing football hooligan group, the English Defence League, plans to use the England v Slovenia match as an excuse to whip up hatred and trouble in central Birmingham. The last time they demonstrated there were 19 arrests as the city centre came to a standstill after running battles broke out. With the England game drawing thousands to city centre pubs the potential for further trouble is severe.

Unfortunately the local council seem unwilling to act. That’s why we have set up a tool so our supporters can contact the council directly and urge them to reconsider. So far we have only sent out 5,000 to people on our email list who live in and around Birmingham but within 24 hours over 800 emails have already been sent in to the council.

With your help we can push this to 1,000.

We will be writing to every Birmingham councillor early next week to encourage them to take a stand against hatred. We want to do that with the backing of a huge number of local people. So please do sign up and send a message loud and clear to the council that the football hooligans are not welcome.

Ban the Birmingham EDL march

Birmingham city centre protests: Riot police arrest thirty-three people

Riot police made 33 arrests tonight as they fought running battles with rival protesters as racial tensions spilled over on the streets of Birmingham.

Two people were injured as violence broke out in the city centre between a right-wing group campaigning against Muslim extremists and anti-fascists. The rivals had held vocal but peaceful protests in separate parts of the city centre until trouble flared in New Street just before 7pm.

Terrified shoppers cowered in Primark and Saturday night revellers fled in panic as hundreds of police, some clad in full riot gear, struggled to keep the peace. As our dramatic pictures show, at one point a man shields his head as he lies prone on the ground while a young thug attempts to kick him in the face. Another photograph appears to show a middle-aged man throwing a punch as he is confronted by another man as tensions reach boiling point.

By 8.30pm police had restored order, but tensions remained high. A West Midlands Police spokesman said: ‘‘We can confirm 33 arrests have been made to date the majority for disorder. To date there has been one report of criminal damage to a car, although we expect further reports. We have also had reports of two people being injured and no known injuries to police officers. A high visibility policing presence continues. A post operation investigation has now commenced into any criminality that took place during this afternoon’s protests.’’

The unrest flared after a group called Casuals United (more info on the 'Casuals' here and here) organised the city centre demonstration against Islamic fundamentalists. The group rumoured to have links to the English and Welsh Defence League and the far-right BNP were formed after radical Muslims caused outrage by protesting against returning British troops in Luton earlier this year.

But Unite Against Fascism organised a rival rally after claiming the Casuals are made up of hardcore soccer hooligans intent on causing racial unrest. Their protest took place next to Birmingham’s Bullring, while the Casuals gathered outside the council house in Victoria Square.

It us unclear what sparked the disorder, but riot police were soon involved in a large number of incidents and at one point they were forced to seal off New Street with a steel barrier. Other officers were seen running ran across Corporation Street, desperately trying to keep the opposing sets of protesters apart.

Scared shoppers fled in all directions as chaos and confusion descended on the city centre. Emily Bridgewater was buying clothes in Primark on New Street when violence broke out. She said: "Everything seemed fine until suddenly it all kicked off outside and there was stampeding and screaming. We ended up being locked in Primark, the shutters came down and the alarms went off as the riot police tried to regain control of the street. It was very frightening."

Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood condemned those involved in the disorder. The Labour MP had previously called for the Casuals rally to be banned after the Sunday Mercury first revealed the plans. He said: "I predicted this would happen when the Casuals announced their protest. Lots of innocent people, children and families, could have been hurt in this idiotic incident and I wholeheartedly condemn both sides for taking part in these scenes which have brought shame on Birmingham.

"I condemn the Casuals for organising their protest and inciting this fighting but I equally condemn the anti-fascist campaigners who rose to the bait. People have a democratic right to protest. But perhaps in future West Midlands police should look at holding sensitive demonstrations on separate days. That way they might avoid the scenes which have blighted our city centre tonight."

A West Midlands Police spokesman said the force had been aware of the planned rally by the Casuals but no formal request to march had been received. He said: ‘‘An additional counter protest also took place in the city centre by Unite Against Fascism. West Midlands Police has been in talks with leaders of this organisation and they have fully co-operated with police throughout the planning stages for this event.’’

Sunday Mercury

He loves to drink-and-drive, but hates ‘Pakis’ and ‘Kikes’: BNP candidate Malcolm Doughty bears his soul

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Hexapla. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

Please Note: not long after we published the article, none other than Malcolm Doughty himself, our BNP mascot of the week, posted to congratulate us on our article about him. As we understand, he's very pleased with the article. Anyway, here's Malcolm Doughty's comment:

'Not a bad write-up, and pretty accurate too, well, with a few embelishments along the way. but that's only to be expected!! The only mistake made is that 'malc' on the c.u.n.t.s site IS NOT ME! And neither is that my style of writing, as you'll see if you search deeper on the forums that I do use!! Happy hunting.
Other than that, well, a good piece of digging....well done. It's a shame that the only stuff you managed to put together has been scavenged from PUBLIC forums, which anyone can read anyway.
Oh well, never let the truth get in the way of a 'good?' article eh?
Regards.
Malcolm Doughty.'

We thank Malcolm Doughty for informing us that he's not 'malc' on the irreparably insane BNP attack blog Covert Undercover Nuisance Tactics ("C.U.N.T.S"). We've duly edited the article to remove any reference to 'malc' and C.U.N.T.S.

Bigmal

In the recent local elections, BNP candidate Malcolm Doughty, or as he prefers to call himself ‘Bigmal’ (his online alter-ego), came third with 10.79% of the vote in the ward of Kings Norton, Birmingham. Though this is an unremarkable result for an unremarkable person standing for an unremarkable party, Malcolm Doughty is nevertheless an interesting character (of sorts).

Despite a penchant for curries, an enthusiasm for second-hand Jaguar cars and an undying reverence for the music of Meatloaf (could one accurately describe Malcolm Doughty as ‘like a bat out of hell’? Discuss.), Malcolm Doughty was nevertheless kind enough to drag his knuckles across the floor of the neo-nazi chat forum Stormfront (number one passtime for any self-respecting hardcore BNP member).

Malcolm Doughty often pops up on the forums of the excellent Birmingham-based news site The Stirrer, (run by Jewish journalist Adrian Goldberg) to tell us that it is in our best interests if we all self-lobotomise and submit to a BNP government. However, Malcolm Doughty keeps a cap on his explicit racism and anti-Jewish prejudices whilst posting on The Stirrer. Obviously, he doesn’t want to get banned from such an important forum (but, that doesn’t prevent other posters from making fun out of Malcolm Doughty’s stupidity and lack of a sense of humour – see the following discussion thread). It’s only when in the relatively safe confines of Stormfront does Malcolm Doughty reveal his true fascist and racist character.

Drink before you think: Malcolm Doughty boasts about escaping a breathalyser test

Not only does Malcolm Doughty drink before he thinks, but he also types before he thinks to boast about his drink-driving to his fellow BNP members on Stormfront (aka Scumfront). Posting under his nom de plume ‘Bigmal’ under a thread entitled ‘Re: Illegal Number Plates’, Malcolm Doughty makes the following boastful admission:

“I got stopped in a spot check a few weeks ago.
I was not wearing my belt, my plates are slightly italic, and I'd had two pints at dinner!
Breathalyser passed ok, comments made about plates and to change them, and that was it...No fine or points at all!
makes me wonder why they were stopping people anyway, as they could have given me a fixed penalty and points for no belt”.

Link

You geezer Malcolm, what are you like! Malcolm Doughty’s actions are without doubt legally and morally reprehensible. What compounds his irresponsible attitude to the safety of his fellow drivers and pedestrians is his unrepentant boasting of his actions on what is more or less a public forum.

Asians are ‘Pakis’ and Jews are ‘Kikes’, especially if they run The Stirrer

Referring to Adrian Goldberg as a ‘kike’ over his article for The Stirrer on a Birmingham BNP meeting held earlier on in the year, Malcolm Doughty makes the following racist statement:

“NOT REDS! just paki youths wound up by a kike reporter!”

Link

So, Malcolm Doughty is quite clear on his racial taxonomies: Asians are ‘pakis’ and Jews are ‘kikes’. Hmmm...sounds like unreconstructed racism and anti-Semitism to me. But, then again this is a BNP member and is to be expected.

Criticism of senior BNP officials

Malcolm Doughty doesn’t hold back in his vocal criticism of senior BNP officials such as Mark Collett, Dave Hannam and Simon Darby, dubbing them as “lazy gits just enjoy the publicity and self-promotion”.

Link

He even goes to the extent of singling out Simon Darby for blame over what he considers to be Adrian Goldberg’s adverse article on the Birmingham BNP meeting.

Link

Bigmal has a big mouth

Mechanic by day, Aryan jihadi by night, Malcolm Doughty isn’t the brightest bean in the BNP crowd, quite evident from his above comments and statements. His obtuse racism and politics is plain for all to see. But, perhaps in his little hermetically-sealed BNP world it all makes sense for Malcolm Doughty. It always does. One thing is quite clear though: Bigmal has a big mouth, otherwise we wouldn’t be writing about him! ¡No Pasarán!

BNP fanatics given the boot by Birmingham voters

A Birmingham parish council is celebrating after stopping three BNP candidates from getting into power. All 12 seats were won by independents in the Frankley election, which saw thousands of voters turn out to the polls. In the run-up to the election, former EastEnders actor Ross Kemp was enlisted to encourage voters not to back the far right nationalist party.

It was the first time since the parish council was launched eight years ago that a political party has stood for election. Residents feared the BNP weighing in could mean the end for the city's only parish council.

Coun Sid Grey, who has served on the council since its inception, said it was a victory over politics more than the BNP: "Political parties always agree not to put candidates up. We don't need political parties here and we don't want them. There is very little democracy in politics. It's about party politics, which is not always the best thing for people."

Coun Stephen Trefor-Jones said: "I'm very glad the BNP haven't got in. I really want to thank everyone for help ensuring we were able to keep democracy on the go."

In a letter to residents, Ross Kemp said: "I hope you'll be voting for the 12 local Frankley candidates. I think there is nothing more dangerous in areas like yours than racism and the environment of fear and hatred the BNP create."

Birmingham Mail

BNP leader Griffin in Brum pub meeting

BNP leader Nick Griffin has been rallying the party faithful at a Birmingham pub, following a series of recent setbacks. Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg who was allowed in to the meeting but then thrown out, gives his first hand account of a bizarre evening.

Bradley couldn’t get his head around it.

“You what?” he asked. “They’re having a racist meeting in there? Why can’t you just call the Police and ask them to break it up?”

Poor lad. At 19, he was struggling to come to terms with our democratic system. He was, he told me, one quarter Scottish, one quarter Indian, and half Pakistani and was curious to see the people who would – purely on account of his skin colour – regard him as a second class citizen.

His mate Dwayne (three-quarters Jamaican, one quarter Indian) was equally puzzled but less interested than Bradley in heading upstairs to check out the BNP meeting in the Function Room. Canoodling with his (white) girlfriend Georgina was more his thing.

So there we stood, an unlikely quartet, in the car park of the Black Horse in Northfield.

Me? I was hanging around because I’d been thrown out of Nick Griffin’s first West Midlands meeting since his far-right party went into meltdown.

The first I knew about the event was when one of his former members, Birmingham’s ex-BNP councillor Sharon Ebanks posted a comment about it on our Message Board yesterday afternoon. Proper journalistic curiosity meant I had to be there. The BNP has been in turmoil over recent weeks, and although the West Midlands has remained loyal to the leadership, as reported yesterday, the first cracks are starting to show in the local organisation.

Would those splits in the ranks be evident? Would there be awkward questions about the controversial state of the BNP’s finances? Would members take Griffin to task over allegations that his Development Officer Sadie Smith had a laptop stolen by party security officers who broke into her house? There was only one way to find out.

The entrance to the pub’s Function Room was blocked by two burly security guards, who asked if I had a membership card. I said I didn’t and explained openly who I was, and what I was there for. They brought down local organiser Mike Bell, and when I said I wanted to be there as an observer, he seemed happy enough – “as long as you’re not recording anything” he said.

Leading me up the stairs, he commented drily, “You’re no supporter of our organisation”, but that didn’t stop him politely showing me into the bar where Griffin’s arrival was expected anytime soon.

And there I was, in my first BNP meeting – let’s face it, not many Goldbergs can say that.

There were no more than 25 people in the room at the time, including half a dozen women – one with a child, about 18 months old in her arms. To the right was a trestle table laid out with newspapers, magazines, T-shirts and posters – nothing offensive that I could see, mostly adorned with the St George’s flag. Behind was a bar with a small queue, and up ahead a table draped with the union flag – presumably where Griffin would sit.

Mostly it was blokes in their 30s and 40s. A few fitted the shaven-headed bulldog stereotype, but another chap had his purple v-necked “Harry Shaw Travel” jumper over his spreading midriff while an older man was wearing a suit. In other words, a typical pub gathering from this neck of the woods – except that, of course, everyone was white.

As I waited in the queue, one man explained that he hadn’t been able to go to the “London meeting” because he’d been entertaining Koreans. Another was surprised that there’d been no reception committee of “Reds” after “Sharon had mentioned it on The Stirrer.”

I sat down, and just as I clocked a “South Birmingham BNP” banner at the far end of the room, a voice behind me demanded to know, “What are you doing here?”

It was Obergruppenfuhrer Simon Darby, the party’s West Midlands Regional Organiser. I explained that I’d been invited in, but he insisted that we discuss the matter outside. Darby then told me I wasn’t welcome, even though Griffin was apparently aware of my presence and happy to let me in. I could see the leader, now in the room, pressing the flesh of the faithful whose numbers were now closer to 40. It was clear there’d be no protests here.

Meanwhile Darby was verbally letting fly.

“You are a persistent critic of the party. You and your Labour friends are trying to ruin us,” he said.

I explained that I wasn’t a member of any political party, but mere facts didn’t trouble him. He accused me of “putting the lives of our party members in danger” although when challenged to explain this, he headed off of another tack.

“The Birmingham Post and Mail, you’re all in league with each other” he ranted.

The fact that I was there on my own initiative, writing for the website didn’t seem to register. I wasn’t going in and that was that.

“Right, now we’ve sorted that out” Darby said, “are you going to watch Albion at Peterborough on Saturday?”

Here was one of the most senior figures in Britain’s leading racist party banning me from a meeting attended by his leader – then trying to engage me in a conversation about football. Surreal. I headed downstairs to the public bar where a rough-looking middle-aged bloke wandered in from the direction of the meeting, and eyeballed me.

“What are you doing here?” he bellowed. This time it wasn’t Simon Darby, but presumably one of his fellow members who’d got wind of my presence.

“I’m buying a drink,” I told him.

“You’re an evil bastard,” he menaced, before eventually turning on his heels and heading back towards the Function Room.

Chatting with the regulars who were gathering for the televised Liverpool/Villa game it was clear that they had no idea the meeting was taking place – and were disgusted it was happening. Although the clientele were mostly white, there was a smattering of black faces, including Dwayne and Bradley, aged 18 and 19 respectively.

When they took their cigarette (and canoodling) break outside, I chatted and laughed with them, and discouraged loose canon Bradley from breaking into the meeting, “just to see what happens.” Thankfully, he eventually understood why it might not be a good idea.

Although as I walked away, this quarter Scottish, quarter Indian, half Pakistani was still trying to work out why racists were being allowed to hold a meeting in his local.

The Stirrer

British National Party to hold 'summit' in Birmingham

The British National Party is to hold a major "summit" in Birmingham tonight to discuss how to boost their support in the city. The meeting - which comes at a time of heightened debate and sensitivity over immigration - was condemned last night by Birmingham's only ethnic MP, Khalid Mahmood.

BNP activists will gather at the Birmingham Unity Club in New Summer Row, an area traditionally known as the city's Gun Quarter. According to a source, the event is being described as the most important in the party's Birmingham history and comes ahead of a national conference this weekend.

However, BNP deputy leader Simon Darby, who is also the party's regional organiser for the West Midlands, said: "It is an internal thing. It is not a conference. We are a legitimate political party. We support the democratic process. We are going to discuss how we go forward in Birmingham. We have a lot of support in Birmingham and we contest all 40 seats."

The BNP's Birmingham website claims the city's white population is suffering from "ethnic cleansing" and maintains the "indigenous British population of Birmingham is doomed". It warns "the destruction of the unique culture of Birmingham will not go unopposed" and adds: "A small team comprised of truck drivers, carers, warehousemen, middle management, mothers, service sector workers and professional people committed to democratic non-violent resistance to the ethnic cleansing of the city".

Mr Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) said: "I am very concerned about the way they talk about this issue of ethnic cleansing. It is disgraceful when you have a huge amount of work put in by members of the ethnic minority community of Birmingham to ensure our city thrives and moves forward. These people are living in the Dark Ages. We need to make proper representation and counter arguments against these people. Their ethos is against the very people who are building up Birmingham."

According to its manifesto, the BNP believes British people of "foreign descent" should be offered grants to encourage them to leave the country "permanently". It also advocates making all benefits and social housing "only available to British citizens" and abolishing anti-discrimination laws.

Birmingham Post