English Defence League try to ruin Christmas

Not content with annoying shoppers in city centres across the country the English Defence League are now doing their best to spoil Christmas for people in Leeds:
A Christmas tree which was put up in Leeds city centre two weeks ago has been felled amid safety fears about a demonstration planned for the weekend.
The tree, which [...]

Side issues – debating ‘No Platform’

Contemporary anti-fascism as a 1970’s re-enactment society: people debating the importance of No Platform.
Just like the hysteria over a certain recent appearance on Question Time, I don’t think the debate over No Platform (currently in progress on a number of left-wing blogs) matters very much anymore. The spread of the internet largely renders the idea of [...]

Questions that won’t be asked on Question Time

Phil, of A Very Public Sociologist fame, has posted up some cracking questions on Socialist Unity that should be asked of Nick Griffin now he’s going to appear on Question Time:
1. Why has the BNP consistently (Stoke, Burnley Pendle) voted for above-inflation increases in council taxation, despite its claims against council tax increases and property-based [...]

Data protection for slow learners

For the second time in 12 months the BNP has lost its entire membership list.
The whole thing has been posted on Wikileaks:
This document contains nine spreadsheets of detailed, confidential party membership information, with dates ranging from December 2006 to 15 April 2009. The lists have been verified to be accurate in all cases examined by [...]

Didn’t see this one coming… Pt II

The logical, reactionary outcome of multiculturalism and identity politics:
The government is allocating £12m to a new scheme to promote security and stability in Britain’s white working-class communities.
Mark Easton reports from Leicester, one of Britain’s most multi-cultural cities.

Social problems and their solutions seen through the lense of race and ethnicity.
The idea that there exists a [...]

Didn’t see this one coming…

As a result of the English Defence League’s recent outing in Manchester:
The M.E.N. has learned that town hall and police chiefs, faced with picking up the bill for looking after the demos, plan to ask the home secretary for a change in the law that would ban protests where violence is expected.
From the Manchester Evening [...]

English Defence League outing in Manchester

Regular readers may have noticed that, once again, blogging has been light recently. I’ve had a lot on my plate, be patient.
Given what I’ve written on the EDL below plus some more stuff in a post I’m in the middle of writing this is my prelimary, professional assessment of their planned demo in central Manchester [...]