A Leeds report: stand-off between EDL and UAF

This a cross-post of an article from Pickled Politics by The Common Humanist

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The 31st of October was an un-seasonally warm day in Leeds and things, as they say, were afoot. The English Defence League, or EDL, was to hold a rally in City Square, near the train station in Leeds, at 1pm. On the nearby Headrow, outside the City Library, Unite Against Fascism (UAF) a counter demo would be held. So I thought it was time to investigate both these demos and this is what I found.

What are my concerns here? Well, I believe in freedom to protest and freedom of speech but I am worried about violence: elements in the EDL have form on this but I hope West Yorkshires Finest can act as a deterrent.

Who will turn up? What will the numbers be like? Will local Islamists put in an appearance or will the overwhelming sensible and sane majority has shackled the fringe extremists? This is Leeds; you never quite know how the details are going to work out.

The EDL

I arrive at 12.20 and the first thing I notice is the heavy police presence – at least three hundred or so deployed and in reserve in and around the Square. And two police helicopters are circling above. This could be overkill I wonder but then from the station I see a hemmed in mass of about 400 EDL protestors. They look almost exactly like a crowd of England fans with added placards – short hair and bald heads abound. A chorus of the national anthem is followed by what would become the signature chant of the day, ‘E-D-L’ repeated often and loudly.

They assemble in the central part of the square. There are alot of placards in evidence. I also notice a good twenty to thirty men wearing ‘EDL’ t-shirts or hoodies. These often have locations identified such as “EDL – Blackburn Division”. I wonder if these are organisers? Certainly they must be the hard core and pretty confident to be wearing them in public.

Placard Watch:

“Al Qaeda Off Our Streets”

“Muslim – No Problem. Extremist – Big Problem”

“Women are not possessions. No to Shariah Law”

“Black and White Unite: English Defence League” [Surprising but genuine? Based on what I saw and overheard it would take a particularly brave black Britain to join the EDL]

Chant Listen:

“No surrender to the Taliban”

“Islam out”

“God Save Our Gracious Queen” (the first verse only, repeated several times over the demo)

“Rule Britannia”

“You’re not English Anymore” (the tended to be aimed at passing none Whites and on at least one occasion that I saw non white police officers. Shameful on each and every occasion)

I notice there are lot of ‘casuals’ in the watching crowd that surrounded the demo, separated by a loose police cordon. The EDF themselves are surrounded by metal fencing with the entrances heavily policed. So far this looks well organised on all sides. Anyway, I circulate and chat to a few people in the crowd, aiming for the aforementioned ‘casuals’ – by these I mean chaps who look like football fans. A few conversations later I am struck by the contradictions here – there is a very English commitment to free speech and to the right to protest and a similarly English fear of illiberal, controlling religious and cultural impulses. That reminds me very much of growing up in a Labour heartland.

This stood in contrast to the more visceral racism that was expressed to some extent by about a third of the people I chatted with in the crowd. When I have dug a little deeper with people I find there are serious concerns over housing, jobs and the pace of change in their communities. One man stated that he’d seen his estate change out of all recognition in ten years and that the newcomers get preferential treatment. These fears move him and people like him to side with a racist hardcore.

The EDL crowd inside the square went through spasms of chanting and, as they waited for a delayed speaker, occasional surges towards the fence and the police. There were a couple of scuffles. The usual back and forth. Police dogs and horses were in attendance. A speaker arrived with a two coach loads of additional EDL ‘casuals’ but a combination of the noise from the police helicopters and the distance meant I couldn’t hear or see what was said.

And then came the tricky bit: just how do you disperse approximately 500 now very hyped up wannabee race and culture warriors? I found the answer was: with difficulty. So, a few running scuffles broke out in the streets around the station between the Police and Demonstrators. It was then the nature of much of the ground was revealed with some nasty racial insults being hurled around at passersby and the police and a couple of punches thrown at police and at the media. Not pleasant at all.

The UAF

In the midst of all of that I paid a visit to the counter demonstration. Now am no stanger to anti-fascist groups so was familiar with the bands, banners and abundance of smiles. In Leeds Lefties know all the best tunes. It was a smaller affair, say about 200 to 300 in attendance but very good natured. I missed the speakers – this was a theme of the day – and so followed a group of UAF protestors as they took a banner and had a frank exchange of chanting in City Square with a group of EDL who were outside the cordon separated

Placard Watch:

“No to Fundamentalism and Fascism” [The most sensible thing I heard all day!]
“Mr Racist please take note. We all come from the same family tree”

Chant Listen:

“Nazis, Nazis, off our streets”

What to make of it all?

So everyone had an afternoon out and about and I suspect both sides went home feeling pleased with themselves. Certainly a lot of the EDL types that I walked surrounded by around the station area were pretty hyped up. If a group of black or asian youths would have appeared at that point then the police would have been confronted with a nasty mass racially fuelled brawl. The news reports would certainly have been different. Leeds got lucky on Saturday.

Whilst there is a legitimate and necessary debate to be had about immigration and integration, make no mistake a large part of the impetus that propels the EDL members is a racism and a fear of the ‘other’. These fears have either morphed out of genuine concerns, such as housing and job security or they stem from the darker, irrational impulses of racial and religious hatred. A racism of what someone is perceived to represents and a racism of what someone is. Whatever the origin, there is a strong undercurrent within the EDL and its sympathisers.

I fear that traditional English concerns: freedom of speech, the right to protest, a liberal approach to society (in this case expressed through concern for women’s rights) are going to be hijacked and held hostage by a far right radical fringe. And that can only be bad news for Britain.