Have the EDL gone mad?
Published:
October 05, 2010 16:38
by Armchair General |
Neighbourhoods: leicester
In response to the Home Secretarys ban on the EDL their leadership have announced that they are going to "pull all police liaison", "remove all stewarding" and "will still march in one way or another". It seems like the moderates have thrown in the towel and the extremists are coming to the fore. It also looks like a bad tactical move for the right wing group.
The move seems to be a way of heading off frustration amongst members who are fed up of being "caged" by heavy policing and want to be out on the streets having a fight. The EDL Bradford demo turned into a farce with members attacking their own stewards because they were the only targets on offer. Their leaders want to avoid a repeat of the infighting and want to throw a sop to those who are tired of playing along to the OB's tune and want to kick off.
Having turned down the offer of a static demo they have basically made their presence in Leicester illegal. While it will certainly give the complacent Leicestershire cops a headache trying to stamp out any illegal march or demo it will also give them much wider powers to disperse the EDL when they arrive. As is being pointed out in the media, organisers and participants of illegal marches can be given prison sentences and heavy fines. Trying to do a flash march in this situation, with 1400 police in town, looks like a big financial risk.
It also makes things a lot less safe for EDL turning up in dribs and drabs rather than as a big mob. They were already sounding cautious about the Leicester demo on their forum because they know they will face a large and angry opposition from local people. Now, rather than having safety in numbers on a big demo, it looks like they will be drifting around in small groups leaving many members vulnerable.
There is a lot of bravado and unlikely plans being hatched on the forum. People are throwing around ideas about flash mobs and last minute demos in other towns. The fact of the matter is that after Bradford the EDL need a big demo to show they've still got the numbers and support. A few hundred members turning up in Market Harborough looks like a big flop and they know it. There's also the question of whether after all the arrests of members, including the leadership, and infiltration by police and opposition groups, they have a secure communications network or not. Given how quick some of them are to reveal all their plans on the internet it seems unlikely that they are all in the loop. To securely organise a big flash mob they wouldn't be able to get the numbers.
It seems like the end of the "peaceful, law-abiding" front of the EDL and a sure way of alienating the more moderate members in their midst. We'll have to wait and see.
Comments
brum
Published: October 05, 2010 19:19
by
anon
rumour has it that they are not going to leicester there going to change venue at last moment and have a meet possibly in birmingham
What's the source of your rumour?
Published: October 05, 2010 19:54
by
AG
There are all kinds of rumours and that's the way the EDL want it to be. How have you come across this information?
my humble opinion
Published: October 05, 2010 22:46
by
anarchist
We may not like what the EDL say, but they are still political activists and should have as much right to express their opinions as anyone else. Or is some one saying there should be one "law" for them and another for us?
Any way I'm not a fan of the so called "law" it is no more than the wishes of the ruling class, enforced by their stooges and thugs. I'd be pleased if more people do undermine it. Any one who asks for government permission to walk down a public road probably isn't worth listening to any way.
If the EDL become an oppressed minority, which is what they have always been campaigning about, it gives some credibility to their argument.
They would be quite right to use anarchist tactics. And while there are at it they may even aspire to the anarchist principal of freedom and equality for all.
@anarchist
Published: October 06, 2010 07:27
by
@
anarchist - you sound more like a liberal to me. freedom of speech for all, blah blah blah. are you forgetting that the edl's main purpose in going to leicester, bradford, etc is to stir up race hate and attack minorities - they aren't a minority themselves! they are part of the privileged white majority.
they will never aspire to freedom for all because they hate muslims. they aren't interested in freedom for all. they want to lay down the law about who and what is allowed to be "english".
EDL losing the plot
Published: October 07, 2010 10:31
by
le2 original
Big mouths as usual (see above). The reality is, half of them want a static protest, half of them want a riot. And as the day gets nearer and their legs start to shake the static becomes favourite.
The opposition have been caught cold for too long. But at Bradford that started to change, and in Leicester they catch up. Locals and mdl are well up for it.
Latest articles feed
EDL as was is finished
I this is true then the EDL as we know them are finished. The EDL like ot big it up but without the superiority of numbers and polivce protection they will find themselves facing the same problemsevery fash scum group has had to face, mob up and face the OB or turn up in small groups and get picked off by anti fascists.
Any semblance of decency they had will go now as the far right nutters who do not care about courting public opinion will come to the fore. The public will see the EDL for what they are - another bunch of racists violent far right nutters. No more big demos (altohugh they're last "Big One" was a wash out befor any law was passed) and only illegal demos and so called flash demos the only opportunity open - this means that they will be badly prepared, small in number, opposed by the OB and now without the protection form their own numbers and the luxury of an OB gaurd every second of the day.
The EDL's days are numbered