About 60 diehard boneheads dragged themselves to HMP Wandsworth in London this afternoon in the pouring rain to mount a ‘national’ demonstration to free one “Tommy Robinson” (aka *Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) the ill fated leader of the almost defunct racist english defence league.
Heavy drinking took place beforehand in local boozers in a vain attempt to muster up the bottle needed to attend yet another poorly numbered ‘national’ gathering.
The screws inside the jail were most likely scratching their heads as they don’t have a leader of the EDL inside the prison called “Tommy Robinson”, a Stephen Yaxley-Lennon on the nonce wing for his own protection maybe but definately no EDL leader called Tommy Robinson.
One report noted “some EDL have run into tough opposition on their way to the prison”.
There are another couple of write-ups from the day’s events here and here.
*Fuhrer Yaxley-Lennon is currently in prison for trying to enter the United States illegally by using a false passport amongst other things.
The Bristol EDL ‘organiser’ has been arrested. For allegedly attacking a mosque….and a Sikh temple.
“THE leader of the English Defence League (EDL) in Bristol has been arrested in connection with graffiti sprayed on mosques and Sikh temples.
Mickey Bayliss, from Upton Cheyney near Bitton, was arrested on Wednesday. along with another man.
The two had their properties searched but were not charged and have been released on bail.
The arrests were made in connection with two incidents of criminal damage on mosques and a Sikh temple on Valley Road, Bedminster, and Church Road, Redfield, between September 21 and September 25.
It is believed that the word “EDL” was dubbed in red graffiti on the properties on Church Road and grey graffiti on Valley Road. Police spokeswoman Catherine Foster said: “A 47-year-old man has been arrested under suspicion of criminal damage. “He has been bailed until January 22.
“There were three incidents of criminal damage, two on Valley Road and one on Church Road.” She added: “A 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the same investigation.”
Ms Foster said that the homes of the two arrested men were searched.
Around 300 EDL supporters attended a rally in Bristol in July.
Ten people were arrested during the protest, which drew around 500 counter-protesters.”
A few days before the ‘rematch’, a ban was put in place prohibiting all marches in four London boroughs for 30 days – in anticipation of ‘serious public disorder’ if the EDL march went ahead.*
Despite the promises to EDL supporters that they would no longer liaise with the police, the remaining ‘leaders’ agreed to a static demonstration outside Parliament instead.
EDL threatening to turn up in numbers in Walthamstow. On the ground they were a no show.
Here’s a report from a local anti-fascist on events in London on Saturday 27th October:
“We joined up with others from a near-by group early in the morning and set about a spotting mission to see what we could see.
“After making the journey up to Walthamstow and having a mooch about it was obvious that the EDL weren’t calling anybodies bluff and definitely hadn’t made an appearance (despite what they were saying in the run up). The Unite Against Fascism/We Are Waltham Forest demonstration was just starting to gather. It attracted over 200 people and defied the march ban put in place days before.
‘We Are Waltham Forest’ protest in Walthamstow
“Heading back down to central London and checking in at a few of their favourite drinking holes, there wasn’t even a whisper. A small group was seen entering the tube tailed by a group of police twice their number. At the same time reports were filtering through that only 50 EDL supporters had gathered in a pen at Westminster, heavily outnumbered by journalists and police. Around 25 anti-fascists made an attempt to get to them, but their advance was stopped by the large numbers of police present. One EDLer was nicked during the scuffle.
EDL’s ‘national’ demonstration at Westminster
“Half expecting some of the rowdier (and more stupid) elements to head east to either have a pop at the East London Mosque or the London Anarchist Bookfair being held in Mile End, we headed that way. Nothing to report, apart from thousands of people having a jolly time at another very successful bookfair.”
The picture is plain for everybody to see; the EDL only managed to muster between 50-80 people (total) to a ‘national’ demonstration, one that had been billed as ‘the come back’ at that. This is in comparison to the estimated 100,000 who marched against cuts in London the weekend previously, and the thousands who attended the London Anarchist Bookfair on the same day.
The EDL are nosediving into insignificance, something that even the remaining die-hards are fast realising. It’s at times like these when anti-fascists need to make a concerted effort to drive them into the ground- for good! Previously far-right groups have faced dwindling opposition as they’ve gotten smaller and smaller, allowing them to re-organise and re-emerge later on.
Whilst Saturday proved to be another major set back for the EDL and their divisive and reactionary ’cause’, anti-fascists could have had a much bigger impact. If 1/10 of the people attending the Anarchist Bookfair had chosen to get out on the streets, the day would have ended very differently for the EDL. Lets not give them room to breath. See you on the streets!
Westminster – another far-right flop
Here are a few other reports from the day: 1, 2, 3
*For the record – we do not believe in banning marches nor do we believe that the state can be used to oppose fascism. The ban equally covers possible marches by anti-fascists, trade unionists or any others wishing to protest or get a message across. Opposition to racist or far-right groups can only come about through a truly democratic and grassroots position. To rely on state repression is to undermine the principles of self-organisation and direct democracy that we believe in, and to put our faith in an institution far more destructive and divisive to the working-class than the fascists currently are.
Saturday (20th October) will see a large anti-cuts and trade union march in London. Billed as the ‘March for a Future that Works,’ it is set to be the largest national march against the Tories since the one held on March 26th last year. We have previously said that anti-fascism and the class struggle are inextricably linked, and we encourage everybody to join the fight against the government attacks on the working class in this country. A Radical Workers Bloc has been called by the Solidarity Federation and the Anarchist Federation, and the radical workers union, Industrial Workers of the World, have also called their own bloc.
The Saturday after (27th October) will see the annual London Anarchist Bookfair held at Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS. This is one of the biggest and best events in the calendar, with stalls, workshops, films, talks, meetings, discussions and more. We recommend all those who can to pop along.
On the same day, the totally misguided remnants of the EDL are attempting to hold a ‘return demo’ in Walthamstow, east London. When they went there back in September they suffered a complete humiliation, the fallout from which is still showing now. Lets get out on the streets and make sure we give them the same again!
A national network of anti-fascists has been formed.
An Introduction to AFN:
An Anti-Fascist Network is being built by independent and grassroots groups
seeking to working together against the rise of fascism in our communities.
Over the last year alone, the English Defence League (EDL) have held as
many as 20 marches or static protests and attempted to disrupt anti-racist
meetings andbenefit gigs. Anti-fascists have opposed the EDL wherever they
go and continue to shut down BNP meetings, but we should be more
effective. The aim of the Anti-Fascist Network is to support local
actions, ensuring that anti-fascists are never outnumbered, join together
to counter regional and national EDL events, share resources and provide
legal support.
The Anti-Fascist Network is not about telling people how to campaign in
their areas, what type of anti-fascist activity they should undertake or
what political analysis they should adopt. We simply want to cooperate to
defeat fascism and organised racism.
The Anti-Fascist Network is non-hierarchical, will never work with the
police and is not affiliated to any political party.
UPDATE: Event has been postponed at the last minute due to non-availability of flights to the UK. Rescheduled for the weekend of 25th.
Jeff Monson, the legendary Mixed Martial Artist and anarchist is returning to the UK in March and holding a number of seminars (as well as headlining the Olympian MMA Championships, Liverpool).
One of these is being organised by the anarchist and anti-fascist inspired Black Rose Martial Arts Cooperative.
Black Rose, based in Whitechapel East London and connected to ALARM, has the honour of holding two events on Sunday 11th March. During the daytime there will be a special training seminar with Jeff at a hired gym for Black Rose regulars, while in the evening he will be talking about his politics and martial arts at LARC. Anarchists and radicals are invited to this unique event which will be free, although donations would be welcome.
Jeff Monson at Black Rose-
Sunday 11th March – 6pm
London Action Resouce Centre (LARC)
62 Fieldgate Street
Whitechapel
London E1 1ES
Elsewhere –
Jeff is also doing a number of talks and seminars closer to home.
He is taking part in an MMA seminar in Redditch between 2-5pm on Saturday 10th March, at Thaitans Martial Arts.
Afterwards Jeff is doing a ‘Sport & Politics’ talk in Birmingham. This takes place between 7-8.30pm at –
On the 9th of February 2012 a janitor found the body of Nikita Kalin, a Russian anarchist and anti-fascist. Nikita was murdered by a group of Nazis, brutally stabbed 61 times, besides this his ribs were fractured multiple times and his head was also wounded. Currently only one suspect has been arrested, and was confirmed off the record by Nikita’s mother that this person was a National Socialist. Nikita was from a simple working-class family, and never attempted to hide his anarchist and anti-fascist views. It is due to this news, that London anti-fascists decided to host a memorial in respect to Nikita, his friends and family and to show solidarity to the Russian anti-fascists who face as what can only be described as a horrible situation. The memorial was hosted beside the iconic Cable Street mural, speeches were made and a banner was hoisted. We stand in solidarity with our Russian counterparts and all anti-fascists in struggle!
They came. They saw. They failed. And now they’re coming up with the usual bullshit to save face…
Saturday saw the long awaited EDL outing to London. For them, it was nothing short of a failure. Despite planning this one for months and claiming it was to be ‘the big one,’ they only managed to muster around 1,000 infidel, ray gun fighting warriors. Many groups struggled to fill coaches and some bottled it all together.
Locally they were poorly represented- the only group to turn up from the area were the Bristol & Gloucestershire division.
The Hereford EDL ‘division’ (if it can be called that) failed to get anybody there at all. Sad act and self-appointed leader, Darren Poland, has been doing his nut on Facebook since. He’s now calling for an ‘emergency meeting’ this coming weekend. We doubt its worth the effort mate, you’ll only end up getting two of you along like the last one.
The Worcester division were quiet for this one as well…London is a bit further from home than Telford is after all. Too much effort, Dave?
Before the day even arrived the EDL were finding it hard; members were left confused after the ban and were relying on the leadership to put the plans on the internet the night before. Pubs that were due to be hosting them pulled out one after another, following pressure from anti-fascist campaigners. The night before, RMT activists threatened to close the tube stations where the EDL were meant to gather, adding a further headache to their plans.
On the morning of the 3rd, RMT activists followed through with their plans and offered some great practical solidarity to anti-fascists. Tube stations were closed, and emergency alarms in stations and trains were set off, leaving some groups of EDL stranded in various parts of London, delayed from getting to their meeting points.
The usual mixture of unions, left-wing organisations, community and faith groups assembled on Whitechapel Road throughout the morning and early afternoon, bulked up by large groups of locals. We have to admit that this was also a pretty poor turnout, with only around 1,500 on the streets. However, larger numbers of locals were also in surrounding areas, awaiting the arrival of the EDL…
But they never came. The closest they got to the ‘lions den of militant Islam,’ (Tower Hamlets) was Aldgate tube station. They could do with touching up on their local geography though, because that’s in the City of London. Doh!
Groups of militant anti-fascists and anarchists, as well as large groups of local youth made spirited efforts to reach the EDL all day. Whilst this wasn’t possible due to the area resembling a police state, it was very encouraging to see links made between them, and a lot of people seeking to confront the EDL and not simply being led by the UAF and their ‘official’ counter demonstration.
So after pulling around 1,000 troops and managing to get as close as they would to their intended destination, the usual spectacle began. They chanted three letters over and over. Out came the beer bellies and shit tattoos. Scuffles began and a few arrests were made.
Then Steven Lennon took to the stage. Disguised as a Rabbi, he gave a speech. He was also breaking his bail conditions, which he publicly stated, goading police officers to arrest him. He was surprised when they did. He’s currently on ‘hunger strike’ in police custody. This situation will have one of two conclusions; this noble freedom fighter will fast until death, putting his beliefs first and giving his life to the cause. Or he will fail miserably and be back on the chips and pies diet before you can say ‘you fat bastard.’ As much as the former would be a fun spectacle, we think it’s likely to be the second option that comes through.
And after all of that, they finally got their march… back to their coaches via Tower Bridge.
Shortly afterwards a group of locals gave a heartfelt ‘farewell’ message to some EDL members. In a move of sheer idiocy, a coach full of the numpties made its way down Whitechapel Road, with it’s occupants goading local young muslims. Within seconds the mob charged and the coach came under sustained artillery fire, with its oh-so-brave occupants now cowering inside. The bus was left with some new ventilation, and the 40 EDL members inside left with their tails between their legs, behind the protection of about 200 police officers in full riot gear, who rushed to their rescue.
The response since to the 3rd has been almost as interesting as the day itself. The EDL haven’t even released an official statement or report on the day yet, with a few comments on Facebook apparently enough to keep the rabble happy. ‘EDL 1 – Tower Hamlets 0’ they claimed. A strange choice of words we feel, after all they were going there to oppose militant Islam, and highlight the problems of sexism and homophobia in the area, right? Evidently not, they’ve declared the entire borough and it’s population as their enemy… This façade really is wearing thin now guys! I doubt even the blindest of EDL supporters will follow this line without question for much longer.
The illiterate fools over at the Casuals United blog have an interesting take on the day too. According to them the day was a ‘massive victory’ for the EDL, with us ‘Commies’ in despair over the low turnout on the counter demonstration. The tools behind Redwatch have also made us chuckle. They’ve put up a couple of pictures of an anti-fascist block on a Gaza solidarity demo in 2009 and claimed they’re from Saturday… Silly twats.
So to round off; they didn’t have the march through Tower Hamlets that they wanted, they had a shit turnout, their leader got arrested and a bunch of them went home with stained pants and their tails between their legs. And they consider this a ‘massive victory.’ As they try to keep grassroots support and hold the image of the organisation together, they are reliant on half-truths, misinformation and outright lies. We can only wonder how long they can keep this going…but until then, lets “paint some white sheets” for our brave martyr Tommy, as they have cleverly suggested.
3CAFA would like to thank ALARM and the other anti-fascists we met on the weekend, for the hospitality and all of the great work they did both beforehand and on the day itself. We look forward to working with you again in the future. Until next time…
It’s only a few days until the English Defence League have their outing to Tower Hamlets, in east London. The EDL claim they are marching ‘into the lions den of militant Islam in the UK.’ There has been much talk on the internet about how they’re going to ‘take’ the area. It is clear that this is simply designed to stir up racial tensions and attempt to divide sections of the working class in the area, as well as get the EDL in the headlines.
Recently there have been calls from certain sections of the media, politicians and some ‘anti-fascist’ campaigners such as Hope not Hate, for the march to be banned. This call has been heeded with Theresa May banning all marches in 5 London boroughs for a 30 day period, on the request of the Met Police.
We do not believe that state repression is the way to defeat the EDL or fascist groups. By calling for the police and state to ban the march we would be embracing and supporting the same apparatus that persecutes many working class people, anti-fascists, social activists and others. We also question the usefulness of a ban; it will not effect the EDL, who still intend to turn up and hold a ‘static demonstration.’ We need to deal with the problem, not brush it under the carpet for it to reappear later.
Instead, 3 Counties Anti-Fascist Alliance fully support the callout from our comrades in Tower Hamlets ALARM for mass street opposition to the EDL mobilisation. As they have stated their intention to turn up anyway, we will be attending to stand alongside other anti-fascists and locals opposing them. Below are some leaflets recently put out by ALARM stating in no uncertain terms what they think of the EDL coming into their community.
About 60 diehard boneheads dragged themselves to HMP Wandsworth in London this afternoon in the pouring rain to mount a ‘national’ demonstration to free one “Tommy Robinson” (aka *Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) the ill fated leader of the almost defunct racist english defence league.
The screws inside the jail were most likely scratching their heads as they don’t have a leader of the EDL inside the prison called “Tommy Robinson”, a Stephen Yaxley-Lennon on the nonce wing for his own protection maybe but definately no EDL leader called Tommy Robinson.
The two had their properties searched but were not charged and have been released on bail.
3 Counties Anti-Fascist Alliance (3CAFA) 
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