EDL Protest In East London Sees 60 Arrested

Sixty people have been arrested after English Defence League (EDL) members clashed with police in east London.









EDL demonstrators were led along Tower Bridge as police tried to disperse them.

Police said 16 arrests were made during a demonstration by the group, while 44 people on a coach were held later on suspicion of violent disorder.

The protest went ahead despite a ban on marches in the area, with police estimating 1,000 EDL supporters and 1,500 counter-protesters had gathered.

Missiles were thrown by activists as 3,000 police tried to maintain control.

The supporters of the EDL, which says it is protesting against Islamic extremism in the UK, assembled near Aldgate Tube station, with the counter-protesters gathering in nearby Whitechapel Road.

'Altercation with locals'

The EDL protesters were later led to Tower Bridge by police to disperse.

The 16 arrests during the demonstration were for offences including assault on a police officer, common assault, drunk and disorderly and affray.

The later arrests came after a coach taking EDL supporters away following the protest broke down outside Stepney Green Tube station, at about 18:30 BST.

Police said there had already been one altercation with local youths after the vehicle stopped in Whitechapel Road and some passengers got off the coach.









There were clashes between police and protesters.

When the coach broke down outside the station there was a further disturbance, the Metropolitan Police said, and all the passengers were arrested.

Officers from London were joined in patrolling the protests by colleagues from around the UK. Vans from forces as far away as Cumbria, Lancashire and Grampian were in action, with riot police, mounted officers and dogs also employed.

EDL founder Stephen Lennon, 28, breached his bail conditions by attending the protest in Aldgate, but was not one of those arrested.

He stood to address the crowd disguised in a wide-brimmed hat and fake beard before revealing his identity.

He said: "I'm meant to sign on at a police station on a Saturday, I'm not doing that.

"I'm not allowed to go to a demonstration, I'm not doing that.

"The credible outcome is I will be put on remand in prison for my democratic right."

'Wrong message'

Lennon was convicted in July of leading a street brawl with 100 football fans in August last year.

Home Secretary Theresa May had imposed a ban on marching in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Islington, Hackney and the City of London.

The EDL had claimed the ban on marching sent out "completely the wrong message" and insisted a static demonstration would go ahead.

The activists were supposedly prevented from chanting or waving their flags while walking as that would constitute a march.

The protest was moved however, at the behest of police, as the EDL protesters were led towards Tower Bridge by mounted and riot police. They were held on the bridge for about 40 minutes before being allowed to disperse.

Police had not requested powers to stop marches in London since the Brixton riots 30 years ago.

Racist Thugs Shall Not Pass

Thousands of anti-fascists took to the streets of east London on Saturday to oppose a planned demonstration by the racist English Defence League in one of the capital's most diverse areas.












In the wake of last month's disturbances the EDL had cynically attempted to exploit the riot, claiming it was defending the streets of the capital.

But on the streets of east London on Saturday the message was loud and clear as a community united in opposition to the ultra right-wing group. Some in the crowd chanting: "They shall not pass," making reference to the Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley's fascists in 1936.

A proposed march by the EDL down Whitechapel Road and past the east London mosque had been banned by the Home Secretary so only a static demonstration could take place.

But in an attempt to bypass the ban hundreds of EDL members arrived in different areas of the capital to march to the site of the static protest near Aldgate Tube station.

The racists and fascists of the EDL had bragged that they were coming to the heart of Tower Hamlets - "marching into the lion's den" in the multiracial, multicultural borough.

In the event the day was very much won by the anti-fascists and the people of Whitechapel who overwhelmingly rejected the EDL's hate-filled message.

EDL chants of "whose streets? Our streets." could not have been more ironic.

Only around 600 - police estimate 1,000 - EDL members made it to their final rally point - at Aldgate, outside the Tower Hamlets borough boundary.

The largely incoherent rabble chanted anti-Muslim slogans and attempted to sing God Save the Queen but apparently, did not know the words to the national anthem. Most appeared drunk.

At one point one skin-headed member began to abuse and push a young Asian man who had found himself within the police cordon.

But on the whole a massive policing operation had effectively isolated the group from all but a few bemused passers by.

A total of 60 EDL protesters were arrested as scuffles broke out and bottles and firecrackers were thrown as more than 3,000 riot police and mounted police tried to maintain control.

Further skirmishes broke out during the afternoon as EDL leader Stephen Lennon addressed a crowd, telling them he had broken his bail conditions to be at the protest. He was not one of those arrested.

On Whitechapel Road thousands of anti-fascists - police estimated 1,500 - trade-unionist and religious groups congregated in a carnival atmosphere.

The counter-demonstration organised by Unite Against Fascism and the United East End Coalition was addressed by CWU deputy general secretary Tony Kearns, East London Mosque's Dilowar Khan, veteran local anti-fascist Phil Maxwell and other local trade union and community representatives.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone sent a message of support, saying: "This is a fitting response to those who peddle hatred and fear."

Speaking on Saturday evening UAF national officer Martin Smith said: "Today we have won. We haven't had anybody arrested. We have stopped the EDL coming into this borough.

"We have marched on the streets today, the EDL have gone and we have won."

David Cameron's Fury Over Bullingdon Club Riot Jibe

David Cameron was left fuming yesterday after his rowdy student days were likened to last month’s riots.













The PM, who was in Oxford University’s infamous Bullingdon Club, was asked if there were similarities between being a member of “a youthful gang that engages in violent behaviour” and the rampaging mobs who brought anarchy to our streets.

He snapped “we all do stupid things when we are young” – despite previously slamming the rioters as proof Britain had a “sick society”.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme presenter Evan Davis, who also hosts TV’s Dragon Den, persisted asking: “Did you witness stuff as a member of that club... people throwing things through windows, smashing up restaurants?”

Mr Cameron replied: “No I didn’t and, as I say, we all do stupid things. But what we saw during the riots was very well organised in many cases looting and stealing and thieving.”

Last night Labour demanded the PM clear up an account of his uni days in which rampaging Bullingdon Club members are said to have smashed a restaurant window in 1987.

John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, said: “David Cameron has questions to answer after his claim that he did not witness people throwing things through windows or smashing up restaurants during his days as a Bullingdon Club member.













“This is very different to what other people remember.

“If we are to get more responsibility throughout our society following the riots then the Prime Minister should set an example.”

The PM yesterday hit back with his own attack on the BBC’s reporting of the riots. He said: “When you listen to the BBC there’s a sort of danger of trying to put these things into a great mush and make that as an excuse for not acting.”

And sources close to No 10 have let it be known the Prime Minister’s team were furious with the programme over the line of questioning.

A source said: “Cameron’s team thought Evan Davis had totally overstepped the mark. Cameron was very angry, there’s no doubt about that. He hates it when his background and questions about his class are brought up.”

A Downing Street source insisted no official complaint had been made to the BBC following the programme.

The corporation yesterday defended its reporting of the riots after Mr Cameron’s attack. A spokesman said: “The BBC’s coverage and analysis of the recent riots endeavoured to explore all aspects, as our audiences would expect. We also sought to reflect a range of views as to the reasons behind the riots. We are confident we did this in an impartial and balanced manner.”

Davis defended his questioning on Twitter, saying it “was about whether there is a general decline and whether we can forgive youngsters caught up in stupid things”.

It has been claimed Mr Cameron retired early to bed before the raucous evening in which Bullingdon members ran from the police through the streets of Oxford after smashing up a restaurant. According to a club source, Mr Cameron was definitely at the party but, unlike most of his friends, managed to escape alongside Boris Johnson and another student called Sebastian Grigg.

Some members of the club ended up spending a night in the cells at Cowley police station.

Despite Mr Cameron’s denial yesterday, he has previously said that “there was a time at university when lots of people drank too much and fell over, and I plead guilty”.

Yesterday, Mr Cameron also revisited his famous “hug a hoodie” policy by saying the rioters needed “tough love” after enduring a hard upbringing.

He claimed many of the thugs had not been given enough love in their childhood and promised to turn around 120,000 problem families by 2015.