English Defence League - "The homecoming"
The English Defence League made their long awaited return to Luton town this weekend for their biggest rally to date. The Bedfordshire town, 35 miles north of the capital has one of the largest Muslim populations in the UK.
The EDL claimed they were bringing “Tens of thousands” of their supporters to the rally, which they called their “Homecoming”. Counter groups such as Unite against fascism (UAF) and Hope not hate suggested they would also bring “several thousand” supporters.
As the day approached rumours flew across the internet. “Every Antifacist in Europe will be there mark my words” claimed one internet forum. Local residents feared a repeat of the Bradford riots ten years ago, riots which were sparked by a confrontation between the Anti-Nazi league and the BNP.
The local authorities took the possibility seriously enough to contact the Home office and ask Theresa May, the Home Secretary to ban the EDL from Luton, but rather than ban the organisation from the town entirely the EDL were banned from marching through. The democratic right to stage a static protest meant the authorities were now powerless.
An alleged “assassination attempt” on EDL number 2, Kevin Carroll stoked the fires further. Carroll claiming he had been coerced out of his home by a “Asian in his mid 20′s wielding a shotgun” the town went into a state of lockdown with police helicopters flying overhead through the night. Luton was a town gripped by a state of high tension.
The day before the protest EDL leader Stephen Yaxley, who goes by the name “Tommy Robinson” appeared on Sky News brandishing an Osman warning from the police. (An Osman warning is an official warning issued to an individual by the police advising them that they are at serious risk of being killed by someone who appears to have the capability to make good their threat). He claimed that his life was in danger, and that he had been advised to leave Luton for duration.
Dawn broke on what should have been a busy day for Luton’s shopping area with armed police already patrolling the streets. Luton resident James told the Navigator, “I came back through the town centre at 6:30 on my way home from work. There were C019 (armed police) everywhere, a lot of the shops and buildings including the library and the blood bank have been boarded up”
An Esso garage in Luton boarded up before the EDL event
2000 police officers from 14 forces were on hand later that morning to deal with the demonstrators, and the counter demonstrators. UAF members broke off from the main crowd and blocked the main train station in an attempt to stop EDL members from reaching their muster point at Charlie Brown’s night club.
In the end the demonstration perhaps thankfully did not live up to the hype. EDL numbers were nowhere near the estimates that their leadership predicted. The EDL official facebook page claimed 6500 of their members were present, but the police dispute that number putting it closer to 2000. The counter demonstration numbered at less than 1000, most of whom left early.
Perhaps the most important absence of the day was that of the Muslim youth. Who, to their credit did not march in their own counter demonstration, staying away from the town centre.
While Luton will breath a sigh of relief the residents of the town will count the cost of the days events economically. The cost of policing will run to £800’000, and the entire town will have lost a Saturday’s trade. Every bar and pub in the town was also shut, meaning that hard pressed publicans have also lost a days takings.
The EDL and the UAF have left, and Luton has paid the cost for their right to free speech. February 5th was a good day because the feared spark in community relations did not happen, there were sporadic skirmishes with the UAF and the police, but nothing that couldn’t be contained.
The EDL is growing larger with every protest and shows no signs of slowing down. Taking that trend into perspective with a lot of unemployed young men, and a resurgence in Muslim fundamentalism in the middle east that threatens to spread, a government that today decided to take a harder ine on immigration and Islam and what we have is a tinderbox on our streets that could well explode one day if cool heads and common sense do not prevail.
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