Just a few faces of hate seals EDL’s fate in Manchester

Saturday saw the ministering of the last rites to the fast-failing English Defence League (EDL), as its final few thugs were humiliated on the streets of Manchester.

Fewer than 50 arrived in the city for what was billed as a “national demonstration”.

The motley bunch that did show up included white pride advocates and a bloke so proud to support Combat 18 that he had their name tattooed on his eyelid and chin.

Posting on Facebook as William Wallace – believed to be called Peter Smith in ‘real life’ – this fine fellow claims to hail (or “heil”) from Stoke.

If you live in the Potteries we guess you’d recognise that face.

On Saturday he was also sporting a hoody printed with ’88’, neo-Nazi code for Heil Hitler.

Inevitably he was caught throwing a Nazi salute in Piccadilly Gardens with his “not racist” EDL pals.

Another face of hate in attendance was Sunderland’s Brian Myers. His Facebook ‘likes’ include an Adolf Hitler and Wehrmacht & Waffen SS photography pages, alongside countless EDL groups and pages.

It’s perhaps no surprise then that he decided to bring a ‘white pride’ flag along.

When this was questioned after the event on the EDL page, the admin insisted that if such a flag was there, it was removed very quickly.

How you can be certain something was swiftly removed when you’re simultaneously claiming it may not have been there?

It was, of course, there and it wasn’t, of course, removed, swiftly or otherwise. The EDL’s own evidence shows this. The flag was prominently displayed to the left of the small ‘stage’ in the EDL’s massively underpopulated pen in Piccadilly Gardens for the duration of the unintelligible speeches.

If self-owning was an Olympic sport you wouldn’t be able to see the EDL for the dazzling glare of gold medals.

Indeed as the serially-stupid David Coppin decided to defend the appearance of white pride paraphernalia, it’s perhaps time for the introduction of platinum awards.

For those of you wondering, yes David did leave Mrs Coppin, his Filipino wife, at home again.

For good measure, a chap from the Stoke Infidels turned up in a European Brotherhood sweatshirt. He hung with fellow Infidels Phillip Watkinson and David Shufflebottom.

The former is an infamous firebrand who was once caught on camera walloping a fella at Speakers’ Corner.

We’ve previously documented some of the idiotic antics of the latter. This clown, posting as “Shuff Muhammed” once threatened to burn down mosques on Bonfire Night, earning him a visit from Staffordshire Police.

Also hanging around like the proverbial bad smell was Liverpool’s Dylan Cresswell. He might have perhaps been swapping fire-starting notes with Shufflebottom given he once called for an arson attack on a mosque.

Cresswell, who pretty much is the EDL on Merseyside, is, as you will have guessed, a distasteful character.

As he and his 31 fellow EDL supporters – we counted them – were being escorted back to Piccadilly Station, Cresswell spent his time loudly celebrating the death earlier this year of a female antifascist. That is the calibre of human being we’re talking about here.

The good people of Manchester were not impressed with the arrival of its unwanted day-trippers. Nor were the city’s landlords.

The EDL’s day started with them being refused entry to their favoured pubs.

Turned away from the Piccadilly Tavern one bonehead crossed the road loudly announcing his intention to buy a bottle of vodka from Tesco Express.

Eventually they found refuge of sorts in B Lounge, the bar that only the night before had said it would not host them.

Here they sank a few pints as the locals wandered by giving out perplexed looks. Checking out the assembled faces of hate one asked if it was Halloween.

Holding fort outside the hostelry was Alan Spence whose role in the EDL these days is hard to fathom. He was leader. Now he’s not so much the gaffer as the kit boy.

So who else was there? Nadia Sculpher, or perhaps Skulker given her desire to avoid our photographer; former Bolton BNP and North West Infidels activist, Craig Barnes and his fellow traveller Mark Wood…..

Given the turnout we could probably name them all individually. As Primal Scream and A Certain Ratio singer Denise Johnson noted, there have been more members of The Fall.

Indeed there have been gags aplenty to further humiliate Spence’s few remaining footsoldiers.