EDL stopped in Whitehall

 By New Worker Correspondent 

  FASCIST and racist groups like the British National Party and the English Defence League have been given a new lease of life by the murder of a soldier in Woolwich by Islamic extremists.

There have been attacks on Mosques throughout the country but anti-fascists have been determined to counter this upsurge of hate and violence and to defend Britain’s thriving and diverse communities.

In Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Saturday anti-fascists from Unite Against Fascism and from local trade unions and community groups came out in hundreds to oppose an EDL march through the town

And on Monday in London the EDL planned to march from Leicester Square and hand in a petition at Number 10 Downing Street calling for increased oppression against Muslims in Britain.

The UAF organised its own petition to be presented an hour before the EDL was due – and over a thousand of them turned out to support the petition and to stay and block the path of the EDL.

Policing was very heavy and the two groups were kept apart by multiple police cordons for around three hours with the fascists chanting slogans and the anti-fascists replying louder.

It was a larger turnout than usual for the EDL, with leaders Kevin Carroll and Stephen Yaxley Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson) out in public for the first time in many months.

But the anti-fascist line held and eventually the EDL had to march back the way they came. As they departed they showed their frustration by hurling bottles and other missiles at the anti-fascists and the police.

But, once again, they did not pass.