Last night a small group of North west fascists disrupted a meeting of Bolton Council to bellow about mosques and undermine a legitimate protest regarding potential cuts to local children’s centre.
The group was led by Wayne Riley, a local man who last year was found guilty of using abusive using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. A nasty offence it was compounded by the fact he committed it in front of children – whilst claiming to be campaigning against paedophilia.
Its perhaps not surprising then that last night rather than join trade unionists fighting to protect children’s centres, he could be found bellowing “How many more mosques?” and shouting that council leader Cliff Morris is a “scumbag” and “traitor.” It was not the most coherent or articulate of protests, but then they never are.
The group, called out as fascists by others in the public gallery, also claimed it would attend “every single full council meeting for the next two years.” This seems particularly unlikely for Riley given his previous conviction – for an offence targeting Labour which occurred on polling day – and behaviour in the council chamber.
A fervent UKIP supporter who has been pictured with both interim leader Nigel Farage and North West MEP Paul Nuttall, Riley is also associated with the North West Infidels, English Defence League and keyboard clowns, the Pie & Mash Squad. He is also involved in a local anti-mosque campaign originally instigated by former BNP activist Bryn Morgan and now led by publicity shy fascist Craig Barnes.
In addition Riley administers the Facebook page of yet another tiny far right splinter group, the North West Resistance. It’s another one of those gangs that childishly fancies itself as some kind of 80s hooligan outfit.
Wayne Riley is nearly 50 years old.
A Reform Party candidate fantasised about deporting “millions” of British citizens to “rid itself of the foreign plague we have been diseased with”. UPDATE: Reform…
