Comments

Comment 1 | From: Louise | Date: 1 October 2010, 18:21

Well done Leicester, great to see a show of strength and unity!

Comment 2 | From: A Kansari | Date: 1 October 2010, 19:22

Nick, For your information my father lived under both Nazi and Soviet occupation and found the Soviets to be far worse than the Nazis.The people you associate with such as Martin Smith of the UAF are diehard Communists,the sort of people who killed several of my relatives so its not surprsing that I find the UAF as a force for evil.Having lived in Leicester all my life,the entire fifty four years of it,I can assure you its not the multicultural utopia you think it is.Yes,community relations are pretty good,certainly better than in other areas of the country,but underneath there is tension and in my experience Muslims want the benefits of living in the city but are not prepared to integrate.Somalians came to Leicester due to it being a tolerant place,or rather having a reputation for tolerance,but they have made no effort to integrate despite living here for up to ten years. Many people that I have spoken to are in full agreement with the EDL and welcome it to Leicester.But these are people on run down council estates who have been deserted by mainstream politicans and no longer have a voice.These people support the EDL and that support is growing by the day.

Comment 3 | From: Matt S | Date: 1 October 2010, 20:10

Unbeleivable, especially the conscious untruth (lie?)about the counter-protest in Bradford. The idea that only 'hard-core' male activists come out to oppose the BNP/EDL is a slur on all those - black and white, male and female, trade unionists or 'non-activist' people - who do not want to give free-rein to nazis to try to march through our cities. I'm all in favour of cultural/musical events to oopose fascism and build a broad base of opposition. However to say we should nothing on the day to oppose the EDL when they try to march allows them to gain legitmacy and lets them have their 'right' to march. I was at the anti-WDL protests in Swansea (involving 'real' people!)and they were very successful in a way the Morris dancers (!) will be not - do you really beleive that that appeals to ordinary people? I've always had a lot of respect for the work of Searchlight but this is a terrible mistake - very surprising for a journal rooted in the tradition of Cable Street, or is celebrating such historic events only for history? You have my email; please remove it from your mailing lists in future.

Comment 4 | From: Carla Smith | Date: 2 October 2010, 18:48

I think that the organised events mentioned here are a very good idea but I am worried that the message is not getting to the general public of Leicester. For example, this site has only just been set up and indeed I am the first to post. There was a member of the council handing out leaflets today but is it all a bit late? Please, please make your presence more known on the streets of Leicester over the oncoming week or else I am worried that people will not turn out to these little known events in favour of the very well publicised EDL march/static protest on the Saturday. Is there anything I can do to help? Xxx

Comment 5 | From: Andrew Walton | Date: 5 October 2010, 18:14

I have to disagree with your views on how to counter the EDL in Leicester. By all means people should attend the peace vigil and community festival, but they should also turn up on the Saturday itself. The EDL are bullies and we need to stand up to them. The alternative to confronting to racist groups like the EDL is to allow them free rein of the streets of Leicester. If they are unopposed on the day, then in their minds, the EDL will have won. If they break out of the police lines, as has happened in other cities, they could attack mosques, shops and temples across the city as they have done elsewhere. I think we need to show as a community that we refuse to be intimidated by the bullies of the far right. The EDL is made up of football hooligans, fascists, racists and people who are angry at the cuts being made by the government, for which they are blaming Muslims in particular. The people of Leicester, themselves, need to show the EDL that they cannot be allowed to drive a wedge between different communities. We need to build a united movement of people from all backgrounds in order to defend our jobs and services. A united opposition to racism in Leicester will humiliate the EDL. Their hangers-on might lose confidence and question why the views of the EDL are so unpopular. It is also necessary to put forward an alternative political view – that we all need to unite together to fight for a better society and not let the far right divide us. We can only do this by gathering together in protest on the Saturday itself. Distraction events like the peace vigil and the community festival, although these are good ways of getting people together and celebrating diversity, leave the door open on the Saturday to the racist thugs and hooligans of the EDL. I am joining Unite Against Fascism’s demonstration, as part of the Jobs and Services not Racism contingent – meeting outside Virgin Media by the Clocktower at 11.30am on Saturday 9th October. On the following day, I will be running with a collecting bucket and some copies of “the socialist” in the Leicester Marathon , to raise money for the Socialist Party, which is campaigning against cuts to our public services. I will make sure I am wearing a lime green ribbon at the same time.

Comment 6 | From: beth | Date: 5 October 2010, 20:36

will the event on sunday be free or is there any links to purchase tickets.

Comment 7 | From: ian murie | Date: 6 October 2010, 08:41

If billy bragg is involved itmust be good 4 All.

Comment 8 | From: Chris W | Date: 10 October 2010, 00:12

Nick, I've worked with your mates in the past (I used to run ARAF, years and years ago) and respect your organisation, but I agree with Andrew Walton. Today, thankfully, the HnH view of the situation was proved wrong. I can see why it was the right way to do Bradford, but you didn't need it to happen in Leicester. The counter-demo wasn't a media disaster: in fact, thanks to the antics of the EDL, none of the media that I've seen have repeated the slur that the EDL and UAF are two sides of the same coin - it is now obvious that they are not. Nor did the lads who came out on Sparkenhoe St and Kent St do anything other than respond to a pretty blatant attempt by EDL thugs to attack their area (also my area). There was a pretty strong 'no demo' consensus in Bradford: there wasn't one in Highfields, which is why it was correct to build a counter-demo. I agree with you over the need to actually engage with communities in order to drive out fascism, but I think that your 'one-size-fits-all' approach to the correct antifascist strategy is in danger of being merely a mirror image of the SWP's own one-size-fits-all approach. See you Sunday, when we can continue this conversation if you want.

Comment 9 | From: FreeThinker | Date: 18 October 2010, 06:23

How ironic that an organisation that claims to value Hope not hate, actually spends all of its time directing hatred towards people they disagree with. With such blatent double standards its no wonder your support is diminishing...YOU behave like an hate group.The alarm bells are going off..and its time for you to wake up! You wont post this, but at least you can add it to the overwhelming number of comments that disagree with you.

Comment 10 | From: Rürup Rente Vergleich | Date: 22 March 2011, 20:44

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