Dark clouds over Rotherham

EDL: Tight shirts and tough stickers

For three days now the far-right have been camped outside Rotherham police station. In the main they are what is left of the English Defence League (EDL). One of their number has undertaken a hungerstrike-with intermittent breaks to allow him to eat chips and burgers to keep his strength up.

The rest are a cross section of malcontents and fat men in tight t-shirts with patriotic tough stickers on their arms. They’ve appealed for barbeques to be delivered as well as more booze. With no toilet facilities they have taken to urinating against the wall of the police station. These creatures, the “defenders” of England, are there to protest about the grooming and rape of children in the town. Only the SWP could have mounted a more pointless and ridiculous response.

It’s not just people in Rotherham that are angry. Across Britain people are shocked and repulsed by what has happened in Rotherham. Indications suggest this will not be the last high profile case of grooming and rape of children in the country. It was not the first.

HOPE not hate highlighted the issue of grooming in 2005. We were attacked and even libelled-we were called racists.

Today, people from a variety of extremist groups are heading to the town to try and cash in on people’s horror and revulsion. It was no surprise to see Britain First there during the week trying to flog a few of their tatty badges to purchase some more diet pills and cheap vodka. (Yes, that is what happens with their money-it does not go to any forces charities.)

The National Front are arriving en masse today and some of their number seem rather keen about giving the EDL a good thrashing while they’re there. The British National Party (BNP) will be meetng in Parkgate at midday to attempt a march into town.

The BNP will be, like all Nazi groups in this country, trying to push their way to the front of a demonstration/march planned for Rotherham on the 13th September. Their London organiser, a pornographer who sells date-rape drugs from his Soho sex shop, has organised a coach to travel up from London. The BNP will be led by their new Chairman, who is banned from teaching because of his history of violence towards children. And let’s not forget, the BNP had two councillors in Rotherham for a time when the abuse was ongoing.

Last night, from across the pond, hate preacher Robert Spencer took to twitter to attack two of the HNH team. The sheer delight he and others are taking in what has happened in Rotherham says as much about them as it does about those guilty of the grooming of children. HOPE not hate campaigned in 2013 to stop Spencer coming to this country to gloat over the death of Lee Rigby. He has not forgiven us. He ended up last night threatening to have the throats of our members of staff slit. Nice.

Prodromou: Complete failure

The laughably ‘reformed’ thug and criminal Stephen Lennon, still using the name Tommy Robinson, has also taken great delight in what has happened. His sponsors must be so proud of the progress he has made.

Also from London, Paul Prodromou who leads the largely irrelevant ‘SEA’ is promising an enormous turn out for the day in Rotherham. This gives us hope. When he last tried to cash in on despair, he promised “thousands” would join his march in the wake of Lee Rigby’s murder. Less than 40 people bothered to attend.

Whatever happens in the coming weeks and months in Rotherham, glib responses will do nothing to douse the anger at the duplicity and of the stupidity of those who tried to hush up and hide what has happened there to girls of all races and religions, at the hands of men who have absolutely no place at all in any kind of society. Trying to excuse what they did, like those very silly, very few have, will do nobody any favours.

The EDL’s leadership are fully aware that we are only a few weeks from being able to break story that will damage them in the eyes of their own supporters irretrievably. So it is worth reminding anyone that may be sucked into the racial and religious hatred that is now descending gleefully on Rotherham, that the far-right in this country has been disproportionately itself, full of men who harm children.

These “defenders” of children, have spent no time protesting outside of the many churches in this country that have been shamed by child abuse allegations. Neither did they say a word or do a thing about the likes of Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile et all.

Children are not for sale. They are not for bartering, they are not pieces in a game of hate chess. And, as the antifascist song warned; If we tolerate this, your children will be next.

Spencer: Pleased more than ever he is banned