Clashes after rival city marches

Members of the SDL gathered in the city centre

Two rival marches in Glasgow have led to a number of skirmishes in the city

About 1,500 anti-racism protesters marched through the city under the banner Scotland United, in opposition to the Scottish Defence League (SDL). The SDL - an offshoot of the English Defence League - had been attempting to hold an "anti-Islamist" demonstration.

There were clashes outside Central Station and at several points around the city centre. Police said they had made five arrests.

The Scotland United rally, backed by trade unions, politicians and faith groups, gathered at Glasgow Green and marched to George Square. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who attended the rally, organised to oppose the views of those involved with the SDL.

Police said about 80 SDL protesters gathered in Cambridge Street, north of the city centre, and there were clashes. The SDL protesters, some with their faces partly covered with scarves, sang songs and chanted "SDL" as they held their demonstration. Supporters of the controversial group, some waving flags or holding SDL banners, were surrounded by police officers who kept them apart from a group of counter-protesters who had congregated in the area.

Shouts of "scum" were hurled in the direction of the SDL by some onlookers, while the group responded by clapping and waving at those who objected to their presence.

Hundreds of police officers had gathered in Cambridge Street in a bid to prevent disruption during the static protest. Dozens of police cars and vans lined the streets in the Cowcaddens area and police motorcyclists circled around the area while a police helicopter kept watch from above. The SDL demonstration ended when its protesters boarded buses to take them away from the area.

The SDL were dispersed to other parts of the city, police said. There was later a heavy police presence in the Paisley Road area to the south of the city centre.

Strathclyde Police estimated about 80 people took part in the SDL protest and said some 1,500 attended the Scotland United rally at George Square. Five men had been arrested - one in connection with an alleged racial breach of the peace in the Ibrox area. The other four were arrested in connection with alleged breaches of the peace in the city centre and in the Central Station area.

Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: "This has been a successful operation for Strathclyde Police and our partners. Having two high profile demonstrations taking place in the city at the same time was always going to be a challenge. I am pleased to say that we met that challenge and that the day passed off with only minor incidents reported.

"When planning for a day like today, we always have to strike a balance between protecting people's right to peaceful protest and ensuring that the city continues to operate with the minimum of disruption to the people who live and work here. I believe we achieved just that. I would like to thank the public for their patience and co-operation both in the run up to and during today's events. The fact that they passed off without any major incident is a tribute to Glasgow and its people."

The English Defence League has held several demonstrations, including events in London, Manchester and Leeds, in recent months. The group describes accusations of racism or fascism as "flat-out untrue".

The SDL was formed in protest against Muslim "extremists" and "jihadists", the group has said. It has accused the UK government is not taking significant action against the "Islamist assault" which the group claims is threatening British culture.

BBC

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

Scottish Defence League parade in doubt

A group calling itself the Scottish Defence League is likely to be refused permission to hold a planned march in central Glasgow in mid-November, Holyrood has learned.

The group, an offshoot of the English Defence League, which has been involved in violent clashes with Muslims and antifascist protestors in Birmingham and London in recent months, claims to not be anti-Muslim, but instead to be opposed to ‘Islamic extremism’. The SDL has announced its intention to hold a parade in Glasgow on November 14, a move bitterly opposed by local Muslim and left-wing groups.

The group is yet to lodge an official application for permission to hold the march, which must be granted by Glasgow City Council in order to legally take place. As part of the vetting process for applications, police opinion is sought and Holyrood has learned that officers from the Strathclyde Police Diversity Unit have indicated to groups opposed to the SDL that the force will oppose the application.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council leader Stephen Purcell says the police view is considered paramount when deciding whether a parade application will be approved: “That is the case with all applications for parades, the police advice is absolutely central. We will wait for the application and ask the police for advice after that. As with all applications for parades, the police advice is taken very seriously.” The SDL insists it is not opposed to Muslims in general, only ‘extremists’ who they say want to destroy the “Christian British way of life.” However, an official statement by an SDL spokesman, obtained exclusively by Holyrood shows that the wider Muslim community is seen as a threat by the group.

According to the statement: “The Scottish Defence League has been set up by concerned citizens who see the Islamic faith as being an aggressive movement, a religion that is being forced on others within the UK. The SDL wish to state they are not anti-Muslim and normal law-abiding Muslims have nothing to fear from the SDL.

“We can see there is an underground Islamic movement throughout this nation, a movement that is preying on young impressionable Muslims and will in the future lead to further terrorist attacks and also lead to the segregation of communities and ill feeling.

Despite being called right-wing racists the SDL want to create just one community, we can see the decimation of cities in parts of England where the indigenous population have been marginalised and left to their fate of being pushed from their areas by Muslim demographics and the creation of Muslim areas.

“The Government and the forces of law are scared to address these issues, and that is why groups such as the SDL have been set up. We feel this will lead to further violence and bloodshed unless this is dealt with right away. We do not promote violence or racism, we will though make a stand against those who wish to destroy this nation from within or without.

“This goes for any organisation or movement that would promote violence and terrorism within Great Britain & Northern Ireland whether they be violent Muslims or murderous Irish republicans the SDL will make a stand for the rights of British citizens to live peacefully.” Osama Saeed, chief executive of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation said: “This gives the lie to the SDL’s defence that they are not against Muslims. To say Islam is an “aggressive movement” absurdly means they are trying to say Muslims are ok except for their religion. Their proposed presence here presents a challenge and an opportunity for Scotland. ”

The far-right menace needs to be taken on and this can only happen by all strands of Scottish society coming together to peacefully stand shoulder to shoulder. I’ve no doubt this is what we’ll see happen in response.” Both the SDL and its English counterpart have withdrawn from initial links with right-wing football supporters. The SDL statement says: “The SDL is not a group of football hooligans and although we maintain links with the English Defence League, like them we understand that the name “Casuals United” was misleading and this term is not used anymore.” However, in a development likely to prove embarrassing to Rangers Football Club, a clear link between football supporters and the SDL has been uncovered.

A Facebook group entitled “Scottish Defence League – Glasgow Rangers” that displays the official Rangers emblem is listed as having 28 members. The ‘official’ SDL Facebook group has 134 members. The group using Rangers name has a ‘casualsunited’ email address listed as its contact point.

According to Scottish Football Association and Scottish Premier League guidelines on ‘disorderly or inappropriate conduct’, signed up to by Rangers as part of their ‘Follow With Pride’ campaign, disorderly or inappropriate conduct can be defined as: “Membership or presumed membership of a religious group or social or cultural group with perceived religious affiliation.

Religious group means a group of persons defined by reference to their religious belief or lack of religious belief, membership of or adherence to a church or religious organisation, support for the culture and traditions of a church or religious organisation and/or participation in activities associated with such a culture or such traditions.” According to Rangers official policy, fans who do behave in an inappropriate manner, bringing the club into disrepute, will face limited or lifetime bans, loss of their season ticket, or arrest by the police.

Under such definitions, the openly anti-Muslim stance of the SDL would place Rangers fans associated with the SDL in clear contravention of the policy.

Holyrood

[Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up]

No place for fascism on Glasgow's streets

Buchanan Street in Glasgow has long been a place where political groups of various flavours set up stalls and sell newspapers and political propaganda. Walking down the street on a Saturday afternoon you will find groups such as Glasgow Anarchists, Fight Racism – Fight Imperialism, Socialist Workers Party, Palestinian Solidarity and the Communist Party all distributing political material. The usual place to find these groups is at the junction of Buchanan Street and Gordon Street.

This Saturday, April 5th, however a different political group arrived to hawk their particular message. This group however were not welcome on Buchanan street, or any street for that matter. They are the British National Party, the BNP.

Three of these racist scumbags had decided that they were going to sell the “Voice of Freedom”, the vile hate rag of their party. Word quickly went around the different stalls and a group of ten assorted leftists moved down to surround them and stop them from selling their filth.

The three who were selling papers quickly departed to a slow hand clap from the people of Glasgow. However one particular goon who was talking to them and shaking hands decided to hang around at the junction of Gordon Street and Buchanan Street talking into his mobile phone as if calling for back up, after about ten minutes of glowering at the Anarchist stall and attempting to act menacing he departed to get backup to face the evil lefties. Disappearing into Borders bookstore he shortly returned with backup – his mum.

His mother proceeded to fulfil all the stereotypes of the far right with her ignorance, arrogance, homophobia and blustering. She attempted to pick a fight at the Anarchist stall by tossing leaflets and pamphlets to the floor and calling those on the stall a “bunch of anarchist arse bangers” and other such delightful names. Declaring that her son was not a hooligan and that she was the hooligan. In a show of solidarity people from all the other political stalls quickly came over and proceeded to argue with the woman who claimed that her son was not in the BNP (despite him later saying that he would be putting various peoples pictures on redwatch) and then went on to hit a comrade from the SWP . After about ten minutes of arguing people decided to ignore the scum and get on with the day.

The duo of dimmness hung around for maybe half an hour, threatening to call their lawyer (on a Saturday? Yeah right!) and report the stalls for some undetermined reason that probably made sense to her if not everyone else.

Not long after the gruesome twosome departed news arrived that the three BNP paper sellers had started selling their rags at the junction of Buchanan Street and St. Vincent Street. This time an even larger group of the various left organizations, Anonymous and assorted anti-fascists marched up Buchanan Street and surrounded them.

Chants of “BNP off our streets!” began as various people argued with them and called the BNP out for the scum they are. Having already been moved on once though, they dug their heels in and refused to move, even when the crowd around them swelled with people angered at seeing Nazis on our streets.

Eventually they had their papers taken off them and distributed into the bins. Having no hate rags to sell they then buggered off to a great cheer from all on the street.

We cannot allow these pedlars of hate and bigotry to organize or spread their disease, they must be confronted wherever they rear their ugly, pockmarked heads.

Indymedia (Scotland)

BNP seeks anti-abortion Catholic votes

The British National Party is building an alliance with radical anti-abortion activists in an attempt to reach out to Catholics and secure their votes in future elections

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, and one of his close deputies confirmed yesterday that they held private talks last week with the UK co-ordinator of Life League, an anti-abortion lobby group. Griffin and Mark Collet spent two days with James Dowson, an Ulster-based businessman and the main force behind Life League.

The meeting has outraged other anti-abortion campaigners. A number of them, who wanted to remain anonymous, contacted The Observer this weekend. One, who described himself as a 'mainstream anti-abortion and anti-racist', condemned the BNP.

Griffin claimed that amplifying the party's 'pro-life' policies would win it new votes among Catholics. 'There used to be a perception in Northern Ireland and Scotland that we were an Orange party. This is not so,' he said. The BNP, like Dowson, wanted to reach across the sectarian divide.

'If there is any plus for us in meeting Life League and highlighting our opposition to abortion, it is that it chimes with the feelings of many working-class Scottish Catholics,' the BNP leader said. His main candidate in Glasgow would be stressing the BNP's opposition to abortion in the forthcoming Scottish elections.

Dowson said the league had a 'moral duty to engage with anyone who will listen in order to promote our pro-life agenda'.

Matthew Collins of Searchlight, the anti-fascist magazine, said it was odd that the BNP 'welcomed Holocaust deniers' yet believed in the 'right to life of the unborn'.

Observer