Turning up the heat

posted by: Nick Lowles | on: Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 23:44

In a few hours time we will be turning the heat up on Leeds City Council in an attempt to make them act against the intended EDL march in the city on 31 October. Over the last few days an astonishing 5,220 letters have been sent to the City Council and West Yorkshire Police calling on them to ask the Home Office for a ban. Given that only 9,800 emails were sent us by us last Friday this is an amazing response and indicative of the sense of concern over the potential violence that might arise.

However, so far the City Council has not budged. In a letter to councillors the Head of Communication acknowledged that the council has been inundated with protest emails but claimed “that local authorities do not have the power to deal with this kind of issue or prevent a march from taking place”. The letter went on to say that the council is working closely with West Yorkshire Police “to ensure the event passes peacefully”.

While legally the Council cannot ban the march it can make an application to the Home Office to prevent the EDL from whipping up tensions and causing trouble in the city. And that is what we are now focusing on. In a few hours time we will be sending out another batch of emails to push our total to 7,500 whilst simultaneously writing to the Council and every councillor urging them to act. They only need to look at what happened in Luton, Birmingham and Harrow to realise that an EDL protest – regardless of the best laid police plans – is likely to end in violence. This is the last thing Leeds and it is about time that the Council reflects the wishes of its people.People can send off a letter to the council here: http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/speakout/leeds