EDL - Nazi Salutes, Guns and Knives

People oppose the EDL because of what it is, not because of what some EDL activists say they'd like it to be, and the facts are simple - the EDL is being used as a Trojan Horse by Nazis and BNP activists.


Whether EDL leaders planned it that way is a moot point, but EDL leaders Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and Chris Renton (aka John Sheridan) are BNP, Jeff Marsh (aka Joe Casuals) promotes Nazi music in his blog and says he supports voting BNP, Paul Ray says he's NOT anti-BNP but he was shunned by EDL leaders for opposing Renton linking with Nazis, Joel Titus says he opposes the BNP but accepted BNP activists as friends on You Tube, and EDL poster-boy Guramit Singh is a proven racist.
Other movers and shakers in the original EDL include NF activist David Tull and BNP activist David Cooling. With that kind of leadership, of course it's the EDL's fault Nazis turn up at EDL demos!



Thanks to UK Fightback

EDL Openly Display Guns and Knives

People oppose the EDL because of what it is, not because of what some EDL activists say they'd like it to be, and the facts are simple - the EDL is being used as a Trojan Horse by Nazis and BNP activists.

Whether EDL leaders planned it that way is a moot point, but EDL leaders Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and Chris Renton (aka John Sheridan) are BNP, Jeff Marsh (aka Joe Casuals) promotes Nazi music in his blog and says he supports voting BNP, Paul Ray says he's NOT anti-BNP but he was shunned by EDL leaders for opposing Renton linking with Nazis, Joel Titus says he opposes the BNP but accepted BNP activists as friends on You Tube, and EDL poster-boy Guramit Singh is a proven racist. Other movers and shakers in the original EDL include NF activist David Tull and BNP activist David Cooling. With that kind of leadership, of course it's the EDL's fault Nazis turn up at EDL demos!

Since being exposed in this video, Welsh Nazi Calan Llwyd has changed the name of his Facebook profile to "Calan Redkiller Mccommiesmasher" lol, and restricted access to his photos. Sorry mate, WAY too late! ;)

bnpinfo

‘LionHeart’ Ranter Ray Attempts To Take Over EDL

Remember Paul Ray, AKA Lionheart England? Several weeks ago, we reported on him being a likely suspect in the organisation of the riot atop the proposed mosque site in Dudley that resulted in the arrest and incarceration of the English Defence League’s Jon Shaw and Leon McCreery.

It seems like their overshadowing of him in the headlines has prompted him to take more direct action… this time against the EDL leadership.

Ray can be seen on YouTube, ranting about the leadership of the hate group and his involvement in it’s conception. He claims that the roots of the EDL were put together by him, and admits to bringing football thug, Jeff Marsh into the UPL, aswell as the EDL’s links to March For England. He also exposes prominent BNP member, Chris Renton’s involvement in the EDL. Bizarrely, he claims God gave him the mission of creating what we now know as the English Defence League.

Ray also makes reference to his previous arrests for incitement. Try and ignore the cheesy music; his revelations are worth it. This could well be an early attempt at a coup.




The news will come as a blow to an already struggling EDL, that in just over a year of existence has seen constant infighting and power struggles.

One Million United

EDL - Young British and Angry - Highlights

BBC3 broadcast a TV documentary called "Young British and Angry" about the EDL. You can always criticise a documentary for something it did not show, but overall this film was pretty good, and it did try to be balanced, showing both racist thugs and decent people in the EDL. As to whether all these EDL supporters are letting themselves be USED by Fascist provocateurs however, "Young British and Angry" did not show any of the dozens of photos of EDL making Nazi salutes, they ignored videos of EDL calling police "Paki loving Bastards", and ignored evidence of BNP activist Chris Renton's role as Commander of the EDL. The programme showed unprovoked EDL violence and rioting, and showed EDL supporters chanting racist abuse.

The film made good points about links between EDL support and poverty, but failed to ask whether poverty's much of an issue in the life of millionaire EDL backer Alan Lake. It's also unclear what EDL stunts like vandalising KFC restaurants, harassing their staff, and attending sectarian rallies in Ireland have to do with opposing Islamist terrorism.

"Young British and Angry" also showed the tiny number of ethnic minority supporters in the EDL. When it comes to using football fans as cannon-fodder, right-wing provocateurs are just as happy to use gullible black people as they are to use gullible whites. As a case in point, the programme showed EDL poster-boy and Asian Rangers fan Abdul, who made very sensible comments. However (much as I despise the IRA) the programme did not say anything about the context of sectarian bigotry among some Rangers fans, and did not show Abdul singing sectarian hate-songs which celebrate mass-murderer Michael Stone and which talk about punching and knee-capping "Taigs" (Catholics)...

bnpinfo

BNP Organisers Come Clean Over EDL Involvement

Click on image to see it full-size

As British authorities are accused of turning a blind eye to fascist racial incitement and street violence, there is damning evidence BNP organisers are, as suspected, using the EDL to do the BNP's dirty work by plotting race riots in multicultural areas

The alleged failure of the Greater Manchester Police to act impartially, coupled with the cancelling of charges against Tommy Robinson and the softening of media attitudes towards the English Defence League, have paved the way for the BNP to come clean about their interests with the EDL.

Until recently the British National Party were still peddling their tired and worn lies about the EDL being proscribed, even though Chris Renton has been outed as the Griffinite stooge with his hands on the reins of the nationalist football hooligan bandwagon. While some Aryan purists within the BNP err on caution on the presence of Uncle Toms in the EDL (just as they do regarding changing the BNP's constitution), many BNP organisers are now openly declaring their love of the EDL on hardcore neo-nazi chat sites such as Stormfront (see the screenshot), and the Griffinite "Covert Underground Nuisance Tactics" website (abreviated C.U.N.T.S).

"Covert Tactics" is one of the most racist Griffinite websites on the net, and bearing in mind their candid anti-Semitism, why would they throw their towel in with EDL rallies where a tokenite Israeli flag flown for effect (the Jew Flag as Aryan hardliners love to call it), unless the EDL had become the street-fighting division of the BNP (as suggested by the screenshot)?

On Saturday, Covert Tactics were openly supporting the EDL's visit to Bolton, carrying a live feed of the EDL rally, arguably peculiar behaviour for a website run by trusted close friends of Nick Griffin - Tommy Williams and Dave Howard.

Since the CPS dropped charges against Tommy Robinson, police forces up and down the country have noticeably dropped their guise of impartiality when policing EDL rallies and anti-fascist counterprotests. This change in attitude was first visible during the London scuffles when Dutch Islamophobe Geert Wilders arrived to speak in the House of Lords, when the Metropolitan Police waded heavy-handedly into law-abiding anri-racists, batons-blazing.

The policing debacle in Bolton when peaceful UAF supporters were arrested and released without charge, coupled with a parellel sea-change of the reporting of the British Media, (from the Guardian to the BBC, politically correctly labelling the EDL merely "right wing" rather than far right), questions must be asked as to what deals (if any) were done in secret, in the Sheffield Police Station interrogation room, between the authorities and the leadership of the EDL.

For the Establishment to do a sudden about-turn following the EDL's violent anti-police thuggery of Stoke, is absolutely astonishing. From the BPP to the BNP and the National Front, Special Branch are believed to have infiltrated the whole of the Far Right using the carrot as well as the stick.

For every threat or sanction comes a concession (in this case, if true, a loss of impartiality and softening of policing towards EDL racism and criminality). If it was public knowledge the leadership of the EDL had done a deal with the police or the government following interrogation in Sheffield (under coertion or otherwise), the organisation's credibility would be in tatters, and their followers would walk away, accusing the leadership of having "sold out", thus a juicy "carrot" (the Metropolitan Police viewed as taking sides rather than doing a deal). goes some way to convince the EDL's supporters its leaders still have its interests at heart.

Just how the EDL's majority football hooligan support base will react if they discover their leadership have grassed-up its loyal football hooligans to Special Branch, is not known, as for the moment, the extent of "state-collaboration" will be hidden amongst the celebrations of a seemingly victorious EDL, but if the police continue to treat the EDL with kid gloves, people will eventually ask awkward questions.

It takes a quarter of a century for official documents to be declassified. It wasn't until many years after Margaret Thatcher left office when the horrid truth was revealed about illegal paramilitary police tactics, agent provocateurs and state-approved strike-breakers in the miners strike, by which time, most if not all key players have left office, making justice for the wronged victims largely impossible. The time-friendly veil of secrecy afforded to the police, government and civil service allows human rights abuses to happen safe in the knowledge nobody will ever be held to account for their actions.

The intrigue of what went on in the Sheffield police station interrogation room might never be known, but if the authorities continue to treat the EDL with kid gloves, society will most definately suffer. How much longer must Britain's racial and religious minorities suffer open incitement, whilst the upholders of law and order continue to turn a blind eye to illegally provocative chants, Facebook and YouTube death threats to journalists, and open calls online for racist murder and the "wiping out of Muslims?"

Are peaceful anti-racist protestors to now expect regular harrasment, violence and intimidation from police, simply to keep loose-tongued EDL leaders happy?

The 89 year old veteran campaigner knocked over by out-of-control riot cops was an act of criminal negligence, and the apparent taking of sides with the neo-facists of the EDL makes a mockery of the supposed impartiality of the Greater Manchester Constabulary. Several policemen have been filmed laughing and joking with EDL leaders, which proves beyond all doubt the lack of professionalism of the Bolton police.

Immediate questions must be asked to our democratically elected government in regards to whether secret deals have been done between the EDL and the state. Nobody in their right mind appreciates gangs of maurading soccer thugs fighting amonst themselves outside football grounds, trashing pubs, shops, trains and buses with insane abandon, but if the EDL leadership have indeed thrashed out a deal to grass-up their football hooligan followers in return for "public respectability", this is of concern for everybody.

If organised racism is being tolerated just so the British Sporting Scene can be cleansed of hooligans in time for the 2012 Olympics, to assure the safety of tourists, without more importantly considering the safety of our own racial and religious minorities from the "well directed boot or fist", democracy is well and truly failing.

The far right have made a meal of the fact that fewer EDL racists were arrested at Bolton, while ignoring the fact that EDL thugs were arrested for inflamatory chanting, throwing missiles, and walking the streets drunken and disorderly. If the amount of actual crimes are considered per person, the EDL would be seen as culprits not victims. The only reason there was not an Anti-Muslim pogrom as in Stoke, is down to the steadfastness and refusal to budge under intense pressure of the mostly peaceful anti-fascist supporters. Whether socialist or anarchist, Quaker, Buddhist, Muslim or Athiest, there was unity against a common enemy last Saturday, and ignoring the heavy internet trolling of the far right and the dodgy pro-EDL media spin, everybody who attended Bolton helped ensure the fight-hungry EDL yobs went home unfulfilled.

Don't be fooled by either arrest numbers or EDL lies, trolling and spin. With a ready-made army of seasoned ultra-violent football hooligans, regardless of public intent, the EDL's sole intent is to cause deadly race riots, and the greatest danger is that complacency will allow this to happen. A number of smaller-scale EDL events are happening shortly in the Midlands and the South where the EDL will "lie low", preparing for far more destructive altercations when the time is right.

The ethos of the Turner Diaries, a popular read of the Far Right, is one of "leaderless resistance", racial terrorism and open racial warfare on the streets, and this is the reason the BNP have reportedly taken control of the EDL.

Whichever puppeteer is running things at the top, be it Chris Renton, Nick Griffin, Tommy Robinson or Alan Lake, the EDL's "political agenda" is in-line with that of Geert Wilders, i.e., vehemently Islamophobic and designed to alienate an entire community not just religious extremists, stopping mainstream Muslims from practising their faith (closing down mosques, banning Halal meat), with the ultimate aim of reducing the numbers of Muslims in the UK, something that can only be achieved via forced repatriation, nazi-style sterilisation, or a Muslim Holocaust, as British Muslims are here to stay.

If you think this is alarmist, spend time trawling through the many thousands of Facebook and genocidal YouTube comments. Behind the spin and trolling of Trevor Kelway, forget the lack of arrests at Bolton. The EDL's street-fighting agenda and their continued utilisation of violent racist hooligans, inviting Wigan Mike and Liam Pinkham to attend rallies via the phone (as recently revealed on VNN), supports the observations that they are merely waiting their chance to create "the mother of all race riots".

Nobody has the moral right to march willy-nilly through towns and city centres peddling hated and fear under the guise of free speech, be it (banned) Islamic extremists or (not banned) racial supremacists. Allowing racist chants to go unpunished, while fascist-friendly police phyically assault peaceful anti-racist protestors simply exercising their opposition to organised racial hatred, is an abuse of the very Western democracy the EDL neo-Nazi thugs claim to hold dear.

If EDL grasses are (as alleged) helping the authorities entrap a handful of British football hooligans while whole communities suffer fear, hatred and desperation, this is most surely a price not worth paying.

The General Election approaching, ask your prospective parliamentary candidates how they will protect communities from EDL invasion, and vote accordingly.

Investigator at Indymedia

'Patriotic' English Defence League exposed as racist, violent thugs

Welcome to ED-Hell: Fan of EDL during London demo

The repulsive race-hate face of the English Defence League is unveiled today by the News of the World

A three-month probe by our undercover investigators exposes the TRUE nature of the organisation that claims to be patriotic, non-violent and non-racist. In reality the EDL is backed by a bunch of bigots, football thugs, and BNP defectors dedicated to promoting race war on Britain's streets.

Our reporters witnessed the EDL's sickening booze and drug-fuelled protest marches across Britain. As well as disgusting abuse directed at Asian and black Britons, our team also unmasked a leading figure declaring his hatred of "Pakis". A teenage youth leader also bragged about his role in footie violence while members boasted of snorting cocaine before protests.

Earlier this month, 400 EDL supporters were on hand to welcome reviled right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders during his trip to London. He was promoting his 15-minute film, which urges Muslims to rip up the Koran. As Wilders spouted anti-Islamic messages, EDL members - hidden behind scarves and hoodies - cheered in support. Later, scuffles broke out between EDL supporters and protesters from Unite Against Fascism (UAF), resulting in 50 arrests.

The EDL insists it is a "multicultural organisation" which has "no issues with Muslims who wish us no harm". Yet its appearance on the streets of Luton, Birmingham, Nottingham, Stoke and London in recent months has resulted in trouble.

One of EDL's leading figures Gurjamit Singh, 28, has previously declared in public: "We are not here to be anti-Muslim." Yet in private, our investigators found Singh, a British-born Sikh, failed to practice what he preaches. Stood with a group of beer-swilling EDL supporters shortly before the recent London march, Singh spat: "I f*****g hate the Pakis. India needs to go to war with Pakistan."

Menacingly, Singh told our undercover man he could "sort" any problems he was having with local Muslims. He said: "Let's say you've got a problem with Islamification in your area. Let me know and I will try and sort it out. That's my own little thing - know what I mean?"

When approached by News of the World last night, Mr Singh insisted he wasn't a racist but admitted: "Yes, I said that. It was a comment made in the heat of the moment."

There is also a rapid growth of football hooligans in the EDL - typified by Joel Titus, an 18-year-old Arsenal and Brentford yob. Titus told our investigators he was recruited by Casuals United, a far-right group of football hooligans led by Jeff Marsh, a thug who served two years in jail for stabbing two Manchester United fans.

In January, ahead of a demonstration in Stoke, we filmed EDL members on a coach drinking and boasting of using cocaine. We watched as the booze-fuelled yobs then clashed with police. Toasting the trouble in a pub afterwards, Titus bragged: "One of the policewomen had her hat taken off and she got smashed to f***."

Worryingly, EDL is attracting disaffected members of the BNP too. One of their co-founders is Chris Renton, a former BNP supporter. Before the Stoke march, he wrote an uncompromising message on EDL's website. It read: "If Stoke o.b. (Old Bill) bus us out of town, we'll declare war and come back next Saturday."

We have made our dossier, which includes video footage, available to the authorities.

NotW

Hardcore Nazis Invited To Attend EDL Rallies

Liam Pinkham posting on the hardline national socialist chat site VNN, has just posted an insight into why the himself and Hitler-loving cohort Wigan Mike are always seen on EDL marches. His allegations are fatally damaging to the repeated "we are not neo-nazis" propaganda that Trevor Kelway and friends post regularly throughout the internet.

Click on image for full-size

The Allegations

While discussing the dirty habits of the EDL pissing on Westminster Abbey with former Blood and Honour administrator Beverley Kerry, convicted violent thug and regular straight-armed saluter on EDL rallies, hardcore unreconstructed nazi Liam Pinkham (Pino) posting on a thread on VNN, happened to let it slip that the EDL leadership from on-high, regularly telephones himself and bosom buddy "Wigan Mike" Heaton, (well aware of who they are), begging them to publically attend EDL gatherings.

The URL of the conversation is: http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?p=1107755 Just in-case Chris Renton and a certain boggle-eyed far right pig farmer exerts immediate pressure on Bev Kerry to have the thread pulled, a screenshot is included with this article so you can see for yourself, and make up your own mind on the EDL's secret yet bizarre relationship to Pinkham and Heaton.

The more one considers the allegations, there seems little reason for Liam Pinkham to make such claims up in the context of the situation (regardless of his personal misgivings with the EDL set-up), which suggests, if true, the EDL's shadowy bigwigs don't just tolerate hardcore neo-Nazis. They actively encourage their presence.

Logically, the EDL leadership strive for their controversial racist and violent street gatherings to appeal to the traditional far right community of anti-black Jewish-hating, and Holocaust-denying skinheads, to which Pinkham and Heaton fall point-blank into this category.

Judging by the rammifications of the discourse on VNN, Pinkham himself personally regards the telephone callls he received from the EDL's big cheeses as evidence of the Islamophobic organisation's government backing, in-line with popular far right conspiracy theories about the EDL being a machination of the state, however if you have read the recent Searchlight articles about the EDL, or more damningly Lionheart's videos about the EDL leadership actively encouraging known neo-Nazis to attend EDL events, the allegations (if true) are totally and utterly damning, leaving EDL claims that they are not nazis or racists, totally and utterly discredited.

There has been plenty of recent debate on Indymedia and other antifascist forums about why exactly when the EDL repeatedly claim not to harbour nazi sympathies, highlighting scuffles with Combat18 and speeches condemning Blood and Honour, do they turn a blind eye to the involvement of the ultra-violent quasi-terrorist British Freedom Fighters and other hardcore neo-Nazis in their events, however Pinkham's startling claims that the EDL leadership physically ring up both Pinkham and Heaton, pestering them to attend rallies, startlingly implies that the EDL go out of their way to ensure hardcore facsists are part of the furniture.

To ignore the random presence of people who openly declare their love of national socialism (Pinkham/Pino88) attending EDL rallies is one thing, but actively inviting them to take part, is astounding. Whether or not Pinkham would wish to go public on the phone calls, if he has stored the messages, is another matter, especially if there is no truth in claims of the EDL being a government-sponsored "black-op". Nevertheless, if the calls could somehow be retrieved, the dictatorial EDL leadership team would be resigned to history overnight, causing a change of leadership in the organisation.

As VNN is fervently pro-BNP in outlook, and Bev is on speaking terms with Nicholas Griffin Esquire, judging by the strangehold Paul Ray alleges the BNP exacts over the EDL (via Chris Renton), such a damning stake through the heart is unlikely, however merely considering the possibility of the EDL leadership making regular phone calls to Pinkham and Heaton, makes the mind boggle, and adds an extra dimension to the understanding of what the EDL has become, and where it is aiming to go.

Let's hope these alarming allegations can be investigated further, rather than being swept under the carpet, as usually happens in far right circles.

Truth Seeker via Indymedia London

The BNP Nazi at the heart of the EDL

Chris Renton, BNP activist, was on the English Defence League march in London last week

Chris Renton on the English Defence League march last week

The man in this picture is Chris Renton. He was photographed on the racist English Defence League (EDL) march on parliament last Friday. Renton is a well known member of the British National Party (BNP)—and he is also on the leadership team of the EDL.

In fact, Renton was one of the group’s founders. He runs the EDL’s Facebook pages and set up the EDL website and forums. The BNP and EDL deny any links with each other. But the fact that this BNP Nazi is central to the EDL proves otherwise.

In a radio interview in July 2009, then EDL spokesperson Paul Ray confirmed that Renton was a BNP activist. And Renton is not the only fascist central to the EDL. Davy Cooling, the administrator of the EDL’s Luton Facebook site, is also on the BNP membership list. Many other known BNP members were spotted on the EDL’s march in London.

This is more proof that the EDL is a dangerous organisation with fascism at its core. Every activist must get to Bolton on Saturday 20 March to stop the EDL’s next racist rampage.

Socialist Worker

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Nazi Protestors are definitely EDL

The EDL Welsh division - the Welsh Defence League - was founded by convicted knife criminal and Cardiff City hooligan Jeff Marsh (who was jailed for stabbing 2 Manchester United fans and recently banned from football grounds for 5 years). Jeff Marsh helps organise EDL protests through a hooligan group called Casuals United.

When the EDL and WDL marched together in Swansea on 17 Oct 2009, they chanted "BNP BNP BNP", gave Nazi salutes and burned an Anti-Nazi flag. So, realising the EDL's credibility as an allegedly non-racist group was totally blown, the EDL pretended their Swansea march had been "hijacked" by infiltrators from the Nazi group Combat 18. However (in an act of awesome political stupidity) on 7 March 2010 Casuals United published a photo on their own blog of the WDL which proves that the Nazis who'd protested in Swansea definitely were members of the WDL (see video)... talk about an own flippin' goal!

Since then Jeff Marsh published a video of the EDL chanting "BNP BNP BNP" in Stoke (1) and EDL co-founder Paul Ray admitted that BNP activist Chris Renton is now (quote) "de-facto Commander of the EDL" (2)

There's some debate about whether the EDL are real Nazis or whether they're "just" Loyalists. The truth is that to varying extents BOTH statements are true. However, even then, those EDL Loyalists who genuinely aren't Nazis are still prepared to collaborate with Nazis, so arguably they're even worse than the hard-core Nazis, because they knowingly create a Trojan Horse through which Nazis try to sneak their ideas into society.

(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9lmFqYNOo4
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm8lTdh_bwk

Thanks to bnpinfo for the heads-up

EDL admit their leader's BNP + Nazi

This video was originally made by founding EDL member Paul Ray, and was posted on an EDL You Tube channel called LutonLionheart. I have NOT re-posted this video here to support the EDL, but have re-posted it because in this video Paul Ray admits that EDL activist "John Sheridan" is really BNP "Gold" activist Chris Renton 0:35. This video also shows Chris Renton standing under an EDL banner which makes what is therefore the blatantly false claim that the EDL "are not BNP" 0:40.

In this video EDL co-founder Paul Ray states that (quote) "I am not anti-BNP" 0:55 and admits Chris Renton is also involved with Nazis like Stormfront 1:30 and Combat 18 1:56. Paul Ray says he himself opposes Nazism but that the rest of the EDL leaders turned against him for opposing Chris Renton 2:20. Paul Ray's blog also confirms that Chris Renton "is now the de facto COMMANDER of the EDL"...

What this means is that the other EDL leaders chose to support a Nazi leader, which means all ordinary, decent EDL members MUST leave the EDL... NOW

We all know all decent people oppose extremism, but if you express your opposition to extremism by choosing to join a group with Nazi links then you disrespect British war dead, you discredit your own cause, and as a result you end up helping your enemies!

CY2290

Thanks to UKfightback for the heads-up

English Defence League cracks begin to show

The English Defence League was born in 2009, but as we begin 2010 Simon Cressy wonders whether the EDL is about to self-destruct

The year 2009 could be described as a seesaw year for the newly formed English Defence League. Responding to a protest in Luton in March by the extreme Islamist al-Muhajiroun group against troops of the Royal Anglian Regiment returning from the war in Afghanistan, local football hooligans organised a counter-demonstration under the name United People of Luton. They in turn linked up with hooligans associated with a variety of football clubs across the UK.

Using social networking websites such as Facebook as their means of communication, the hooligans concluded that Islamism was a national problem and they had to put aside club rivalries. By the summer the English Defence League had been born and was holding demonstrations across some of the major cities of England, with smaller ones in Wales and Scotland as the embryonic Welsh and Scottish Defence Leagues.

Hands up all you nazi boys: Liam Pinkham (left) and Jerry “Wurzel” Watson

All seemed to be going well for the EDL, but evidence has emerged that splits and divisions are rife within the organisation.

The EDL has always insisted that it is not nazi or racist, even going to the length of holding a sham press conference complete with a pre-planned burning of a swastika flag. However elements in the EDL leadership are quite prepared to accept members of nazi groups as long as they behave themselves, much to the chagrin of more moderate members.

Joel Titus, the violent teenage leader of the EDL’s youth wing, has voiced loud concern, along with several other members of “the inner circle”, over the glib acceptance of known nazis such as Liam Pinkham of the British Freedom Fighters. Pinkham and his mentor Mike Heaton have been regulars at EDL events since Luton. The EDL inner circle has been well aware of this, yet has refused to distance itself from them.

Pinkham received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 200 hours’ community service and two years’ supervision back in July after he burst into the News from Nowhere community bookshop in Liverpool and threatened the female owners. Pinkham, from the Wirral, was taking part in a British National Party march through Liverpool city centre at the time. The women, who were justifiably terrified, testified that Pinkham threatened to “burn down the shop”.

This comes on top of Heaton’s arrest in December by the North East Counter Terrorism Unit. Heaton is currently on bail charged with soliciting murder and using threatening, abusive or insulting words likely to stir up racial hatred. That will no doubt stick in the craw of Titus, who is of mixed race and claims Martin Luther King is his hero.

Following a recent demonstration in London, EDL supporters led by Titus clashed with Nazi-saluting Chelsea hooligans, leaving one of the Chelsea fans hospitalised. It is reported that Titus now wears a stab vest in fear of reprisals following threats made on the Stormfront nazi web forum.

A closer look at the EDL inner circle reveals why its members may be reluctant to jettison their nazi friends. One of the global moderators on the EDL internet forum is Sean Corrigan of St Albans. Posting under the moniker “Road Rage”, what Corrigan fails to tell Titus and the more moderate wing of the EDL is that he is a gold member of the BNP.

(left to right) Chris Renton, Joel Titus, Matthew Kaplan and Leisha Brookes

Another in the EDL inner circle is Chris Renton, a BNP activist from Weston-super-Mare, who now appears to be using the online name “John Sheridan” and controls a large number of EDL Facebook groups.

One who recently fell foul of Renton is the veteran Bristol EDL activist Jerry “Wurzel” Watson, whom Renton blacklisted following allegations, strongly denied by Watson, of theft of a charity box. This led Watson to side with Paul Ray, the increasingly flaky self-styled “spiritual” leader of the EDL. Ray has formed his own St George’s Division of the EDL and has titled himself “Grandmaster Ray”, despite being disowned by the official EDL.

Another leading EDL activist now sidelined is the bullish Leisha Brookes. An ever visible member of the EDL, Brookes has led the women’s division and acted as the group’s police liaison officer. However, her abrasive nature is not to everyone’s taste in the EDL. One person in particular who has had numerous clashes with her is Matthew Kaplan, a Jewish student from Seattle who is studying history at King’s College, London.

Kaplan is the paid EDL publications coordinator, responsible for leaflets and press releases. He has been seen at several EDL demonstrations complete with Israeli flag. He has clashed on several occasions on the official EDL Facebook group with Leisha Brookes and her supporters for a number of reasons, mainly because he is an American.

Brookes has declared that she doesn’t trust him and accused him of working for the police. Kaplan revealed that Brookes and her colleagues threatened to attack him if he turned up at the Nottingham EDL event on 5 December.

Other leading EDL members have accused her of posting racist comments on the EDL internet forum. Whatever the truth behind the fallout, Brookes has definitely been removed as the EDL’s police liaison officer and is no longer in charge of the women’s division.

It is believed that the new EDL police liaison officer is none other than Corrigan, the BNP gold card carrying member from St Albans.

Hope not hate

Revealed: English Nazis plot to bring terror to streets of Scotland

A mob of English racists and neo-Nazis planning to invade Scotland can be exposed by the Sunday Mail today

The far-right trouble makers are planning to march in Glasgow under the banner of the Scottish Defence League near the country's biggest Mosque. Despite portraying themselves as Scots, the right-wingers - including senior BNP activists - will travel to Scotland from Birmingham, Luton, London and Carlisle.

The ragbag army of football hooligans, far-right activists and racist thugs want a confrontation with Scots Muslims. They have even started selling s20 Scottish Defence League polo shirts on eBay for marchers to wear. Organisers have admitted that previous marches have been attended by fascist thugs from Combat 18. They hope to take advantage of the heightened profile given to the far right from Nick Griffin's Question Time appearance.

A group calling themselves the Scottish Defence League made - then withdrew - an official application to stage a march on November 14 in Glasgow. Behind the scenes, they have been organising a huge demo for the city on that date - and last week told undercover Sunday Mail investigators the march was definitely on. Most of the marchers will come from England - mirroring an event in Swansea held by the Welsh Defence League which descended into chaos.

Those expected in Scotland include:

• Essex security boss and mum-of-five Leisha Brookes, who was stopped carrying a knuckle duster on a previous march.
• Anti-Islamic Carlisle-based businessman Stephen Gash, who helped organise an English Defence League protest in Harrow, Middlesex, which descended into violence.
• BNP activist Chris Renton, who launched websites for the Scottish and English Defence Leagues.
• Aston Villa fan Richard Price, whose Facebook page says he has done prison time. He has "England" tattooed on his bottom lip.
• West Lothian-based Scottish ex-squaddie Steve Ritchie, who has offered to provide transport for marchers on an internet site.

Senior police officers and politicians are privately concerned about the possibility of an illegal march and potential flare-ups with Muslims near Glasgow Central Mosque in the city's Gorbals area.

Brookes, 42, who runs SBK Security in Southend, said: "In Scotland, we will be demonstrating the strength of our support, which, across the UK, is growing at rate of almost 1000 a month. We reckon to have several hundred supporters in Scotland but it is a very big area, so much of it comes from cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh."

Gash, 56 said: "Glasgow could be huge, without a doubt. A lot of the different firms down here seem to have buried the hatchet and are sickened by the rising tide of Islam. Whether or not that is the case in Scotland, we will have to see. Glasgow may well be the biggest march yet. There will be a lot of English guys travelling up for the Glasgow march from all over the place - Bristol, Luton, Birmingham. A lot of the football firms like Aston Villa get involved. I have a lot on but I will be going to Glasgow - it's only 95 miles away from me. Recent EDL demonstrations in Birmingham and the one in Swansea were infiltrated by Combat 18. That's what caused most of the trouble."

Gash organises a group called Stop Islamisation Of Europe (SIOE) which was set up "with the single aim of preventing Islam becoming a dominant political force in Europe". He said: " I am proud of the development of the EDL and the WDL. I am delighted that they have started up, as they are really trying to get the message across."

Police are still investigating the Welsh Defence League march in Swansea eight days ago, when a man was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence. Hundreds of anti-fascist campaigners confronted the rally and a massive police presence kept the two sides apart. Police are reviewing hours of CCTV and video footage to look for further offences.

Taha Idris, of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council, said : "In Swansea, the vast majority of protesters were actually English and that will be the same in Glasgow. A lot of them had strong Birmingham accents. It was quite obvious that a lot of people had come from elsewhere for the rally. They are basically a rent-a-mob and a bunch of troublemakers. There are serious football hooligans attached to these people."

Simon Cressy, of anti-racist Searchlight magazine, said: "The EDL and BNP are basically the same enterprise. Publicly, both will deny that but it suits both to have Nick Griffin as a public face and these guys causing trouble on the streets. Brookes appeared to play an organising role in the Birmingham demonstration. She is friendly with underworld figures such as Dave Courtney, Carlton Leech and Mitch Pyle, son of the gangster Joey Pyle.

"Other prominent figures include Jeff Marsh, a 44-year-old convicted football hooligan from Barry, south Wales. Marsh is a Cardiff supporter and has been jailed three times for violence, including a two-year sentence for stabbing two Manchester United fans. Another organiser, Chris Renton is a BNP activist from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Renton helped set up the EDL website. When his political links to the BNP emerged, the EDL publicly distanced themselves from him but he remains an important player behind the scenes.

"Gash is also well known and was with the EDL in Birmingham. He also arranged the Harrow protest, although he was arrested and removed from the area before it started."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "There will not be an appropriately organised or licensed public procession. It is feasible that people will still turn up and that will be a policing matter."

An email was sent to the council from a man calling himself "Donald" of the English Defence League.He refused to disclose details of the organisers, stewarding or the march route and was turned down.

A group of trade unionists, political parties, anti-racist organisations and faith groups called Scotland United have organised a rally to celebrate multicultural Glasgow at noon on Saturday, November 14, at Glasgow Green.

Sunday Mail

Businessman bankrolls ‘street army’

A middle-age, respectable looking man has emerged as a key figure behind the English Defence League. Alan Lake, a 45-year-old businessman from Highgate, North London, sees the EDL as a potential “street army” willing to be deployed against what they claim is rising Islamisation of modern Britain.

Lake, who claims to have made money through computers, runs a series of intranet services for far-right groups across the world. Addressing an anti-Islam conference in Sweden last month, organised by the far-right Swedish Democrats, he told delegates it was necessary to build an anti-Jihad movement. He spoke of the need for “people that are ready to go out in the street” and boasted that he and his friends had already begun to build alliances with “football supporters”.

“We are catching a baby at the start of a gestation,” Lake later told The Guardian. “We have a problem with numbers. We have an army of bloggers [on the far right] but that’s not going to get things done. Football fans are a potential source of support. They are a hoi polloi that gets off their backsides and travels to a city and they are available before and after matches.”

In addition to funding materials and publicity, Lake has established a website that he hopes will become a clearing house for the EDL and like-minded organisations. He says that people in the movement must choose their roles. Some can debate on forums, some can be experts on the Koran. He is, however, quick to distance himself from fascist organisations and one of his only demands of the EDL in return for his funding is that it distances itself from groups such as the British National Party.

Indeed, Lake appears to want to build alliances with all groups who might fall foul of the strict Islamic code, including lesbian and gay organisations, other religions and ethnic groups and supporters of free speech.

Lake wants the message to be short and easy. At the Swedish conference he announced a manifesto based on four freedoms: free speech, democracy, equality in law and cultural tolerance, with no exemptions for any ideology or religion. He also stressed the urgency of the issue, claiming that within 40 years Muslims would be in the majority.

Lake’s offer to finance the EDL appeals to the Luton division, who remain at the EDL’s core. What began as a local reaction to the protest by a handful of Islamic extremists at a parade by the Royal Anglian Regiment in March has mushroomed into a national network that has increasingly been under the media spotlight due to several clashes in cities around the country.

Violence has already occurred in Luton, Birmingham and Harrow and further EDL events are planned for Manchester, Leeds, Swansea and Glasgow.

The EDL is run by 15 key people across the country who co-ordinate activists via email and social networking sites, such as Facebook. The group lacks a coherent message or vision, and even within its core, the EDL means different things to different people. Indeed, none of the 15 so-called leaders appears to have actually met all the others.

The EDL seems to have become an umbrella name for a number of existing anti-Islam groups, such as the Birmingham-based British Citizens Against Muslim Extremists, the Welsh Defence League and March for England.

While the group will claim to be open to anyone it remains centred around the football hooligan network and in particular gains support from the football gangs of Luton, Aston Villa, QPR, Southampton, Bristol Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and Wolves.

It has become apparent that some in Luton EDL have become uneasy over being linked to the BNP and far-right politics. For some this is a genuine aversion, while others might have been persuaded of this by Lake, who appears acutely aware of its negative impact on the group.

However, it is also clear that some other EDL leaders, in different parts of the country, have no problem with being linked to rightwing groups. The newly formed Scottish Defence League has known fascists at its core, while the Swansea Division shares many of its followers with the Swansea Jack hooligan group, which in turn supplies activists to the local BNP.

At the EDL protest in Birmingham fascists and rightwing extremists were clearly visible, some happily giving Nazi salutes. They included Chris Renton, a BNP supporter from Weston-super-Mare, who runs their website.

As publicity about the EDL continues, the group is likely to grow across the country. New units will form and new activists will take to the streets. Whatever Lake’s wishes it is unlikely that he will be able to direct EDL philosophy and actions too tightly. By its very nature and its core activity – taking to the streets – the EDL will attract people not averse to violence, particularly around the football hooligan network, and hardcore racists keen to use the group to spread racial hatred.

Key Figures

Tommy Robinson: Robinson – the name is a pseudonym – is from Luton and has emerged as the leader of the EDL in recent weeks. Close to Alan Lake, Robinson, 28, claims to be a carpenter and father of two. He established the United People of Luton to counter the protest of a group of Muslim anti-war protesters at the home of soldiers from the Anglian Regiment.



Jeff Marsh: A 44-year-old convicted football hooligan from Barry, South Wales, Marsh is a Cardiff supporter and has been jailed three times for violence, including a two-year sentence for stabbing two Manchester United fans. He claims to have a degree in criminal justice and has written a book on Welsh hooliganism. He set up the English and Welsh Defence League but appears to be less influential in the current EDL. He attended the protest in Birmingham.


Chris Renton: A BNP activist from Weston-super-Mare, Renton helped set up the EDL website. When his political links to the BNP emerged the EDL publicly distanced itself from him but he remains an important player behind the scenes. He attended the recent Birmingham protest. His brother is also involved.




Leisha Brooks: From Southend, Brooks appeared to play an organising role in the Birmingham demonstration, though she did have a pair of knuckledusters confiscated by police on the day. She is friendly with underworld figures such as Dave Courtney, Carlton Leech and Mitch Pyle, son of the gangster Joey Pyle, and also knows Jason Marriner, a Chelsea Headhunter hooligan made famous by the television documentary series, MacIntyre Undercover.


Trevor Kelway: A Portsmouth-based EDL supporter, Kelway has become a spokesperson for the EDL. In interviews to the press he has pursued the line that the EDL was a peaceful, non-racist organisation. The address he uses for the media traces back to an Afro-Caribbean hairdressers’ in Birmingham.




Davy Cooling: A 26-year-old known Luton football hooligan who now lives in Daventry, Cooling originates from Northern Ireland. He is a BNP member and registered his interest in attending the BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival in August. Cooling administers the Luton EDL Facebook page.





Joel Titus: Aged 18, Titus is of mixed race and comes from Harrow, North London. He is an Arsenal supporter though attends Brentford home games. However, he boasted on his Facebook page that he took part in the recent West Ham and Millwall clashes. He has been able to draw in Arsenal and QPR hooligans to EDL activities. He runs the English Defence Youth and is paraded to the media as proof of their non-racist agenda.


Richard Price: An Aston Villa fan, Price was a leading figure in the most recent EDL protest in Birmingham. Aged 39, he claims to be subject to a football banning order and has served time in HMP Ranby. He has attended EDL protests in Birmingham and London.

Hope not hate

Sensationalism is a gift to extremists

Brawls at recent protests highlight how all of us, and especially the media, have a responsibility to fight extremism

On Saturday 8 August a much-touted demonstration in Birmingham turned into a big brawl involving more than 100 people and pitched battles in the high street. In one corner a loose alliance of two groups – Casuals United and English Defence League – in the other, a counter-demonstration called by Unite Against Fascism.

The immediate background to this mass brawl was the protest against British soldiers by some Muslim extremists on 10 March. That was the spark that various far-right groups were looking for to pump up their rhetoric against Muslims. The National Front turned out a big demonstration in Luton on 13 April, which needed police reinforcements from London to control. Not long afterwards, the Luton mosque was fire-bombed.

On 24 May an even bigger demonstration was organised by the English and Welsh Defence League, which turned violent as some demonstrators went to destroy property in Muslim-heavy areas of Luton. There was a smaller protest against extremist Anjem Choudhary on 4 July, and then a big demonstration was organised for 8 August. There's more background here.

There is evidence that the English Defence League in particular was infiltrated by neo-Nazis and BNP supporters. On Stormfront, a popular website for fascists, scores of members urged to join the demonstrations on Saturday. Here is one participant's account.

One of its early organisers Chris Renton is a BNP supporter. Another, Paul Ray, who now says he has washed his hands of the EDL because of differences with Renton, admitted he was opposed to all Muslims practising their faith in Britain.

There are good reasons for minorities to worry, even though some from the EDL carried banners saying they were not racist. During the 4 July protest many participants chanted "Muslims out". As the UAF rightly says, the National Front organised demonstrations against black people in the 70s under the guise of "anti-mugging", and now it seems to be jumping on the "Islamic extremism" bandwagon for the same reason.

More protests are planned over the August bank holiday weekend and in Manchester city centre in early October. There are so many small but hardcore groups involved that I'd advise following Richard's blog for all that.

But there are a few broader points to make, too. I'm not going to condemn the need for minorities to defend themselves in the streets or fight against fascists if necessary. Our forebears fought them off in Southall and it remains as important as ever to keep our streets free from constant far-right intimidation. If the police don't do their job then people will step in to protect themselves.

But that doesn't mean extremist Muslims should be let off the hook. In 2004 the extremist group al-Muhajiroun, in all likelihood also behind the Luton anti-soldiers demonstration, had planned a rally in London where Hindus and Sikhs would be openly converted to Islam. They nearly caused a mini-riot then because Sikh gangs and BNP members had also planned to show up.

Anjem Choudhary carried out a similar stunt recently by apparently converting an 11-year-old boy to Islam. Al-Muhajiroun has always been a small but highly vocal group, which seeks publicity for its stunts to polarise people. It is shunned by mosques across the country, but its stunts nevertheless inflame Hindu, Sikh and white groups thanks to incessant media coverage. Remember, only eight people were involved in the anti-soldiers march in a town with more than 25,000 Muslims, and yet they got front-page coverage.

So here are the choices: the group could be banned for activities on a par with the National Front (it keeps changing its name, the latest being Islam4UK). The police could also become more proactive against extremist groups, and stop local councils giving them any space.

And lastly, Muslim groups themselves need to step up campaigning against these extremists or they will continue making life more difficult for them. More like this, basically.

Britons also need to get re-acquainted with our tradition of free speech and expression, even if it involves people of different skin colour and religion saying outrageous things.

The police and intelligence services also need to start taking far-right extremism in the UK more seriously. To that extent the recent announcements by minister John Denham are most welcome.

But the real people to blame for these riots are the journalists willing to run inflammatory headlines – playing straight into the hands of extremists on both sides. Anjem Choudhary remains a constantly invited figure, even on the BBC, because he offers them entertainment. People are being sucked into a game of sensationalism, which contributed to the mass-brawl on Saturday. It's time for people to stop being taken for mugs.

Comment is free

Protestors - "Brit Muslims are all extremists"

The far right group responsible for Saturday’s demo against Islamic extremism in Birmingham has revealed its opposition to all Muslims practising their faith in Britain. In an interview with Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg on Talksport last night, spokesman Paul Ray also admitted their links with the BNP.

As we revealed yesterday, the protest was organised by the English (and Welsh) Defence League.

Despite the group’s claim to be non-political, it’s emerged on Indymedia that their website was set up by Chris Renton, a BNP activist who lives in Weston-super-Mare.

When EDL spokesman Ray was quizzed about this, he acknowledged Renton’s involvement, but insisted, “people’s political views are their own affair.”

During the course of the interview, it became apparent that Ray’s own view of Islamic extremism isn’t limited to suicide bombers and hook handed preachers of hate.

He argued that the Qu’ran teaches all its advocates to wage jihad or holy war in non-Muslim countries, and acknowledged that on this basis, all devout or practising Muslims in Britain, are – in his words – “at war with our country.”

When pressed, he said: “They’re ultimately engaged in converting our country to an Islamic state…that is the religious mandate of the Qu’ran that all Muslims must adhere too.”

So what of Muslims living here? Should they be banned from practising their faith – or would be they be deported?

“That’s a question for the politicians…” replied Ray, who was once investigated for 18 months by police in Bedford for allegedly inciting racial hatred on his blog Lionheart – although he was never formally charged.

He boasted that the Birmingham demonstration – and a similar event in London’s Whitechapel on the same day – marked the beginning of a new movement.

“This is only the start of people coming together to fight back against Islamic extremists on the streets”.

With the group planning a further visit to Brum on August 8, it will be interesting to see what action – if any – the Police take.

Inciting religious hatred is, of course, a crime – and an organisation which claims that every active member of a mainstream religion is waging a battle against their own country is, at best, flirting with the limits of free speech.

The Stirrer