We need to do less to combat the EDL

'The WDL don’t matter in Wales - a nation that prides itself on being open, diverse and welcoming' (Getty Images)

It is an absolute truism that saying a Welsh person is not English has never been an insult. Indeed, for many it is possibly the highest compliment you can pay them.

So when the English Defence League began singing ‘you’re not English anymore’, whilst protesting in the Welsh capital at the beginning of this month, many a wry smile will have doubtless crept across Cardiffian faces.

That the English Defence League (or Welsh Defence League as they call themselves – when in Wales) are an irrelevance in Wales is as plain as the tattooed George Cross on many of the protesters’ necks. And ‘you’re not English anymore’ chants aren’t going to change that.

The day of the WDL protest, Saturday June 5^th, was a big day for the ‘diff.

The rugby test between Wales and South Africa kicked off at 2.30pm, watched by more than 70,000 fans. Later on the 27,000 seater Cardiff City Stadium was set to play host to local boys done good the Stereophonics.

And, of course, there was the WDL march, along with the now obligatory Unite Against Fascism counter protest.

In the run up to the 5^th there was much breathless speculation about whether the policing operation would be successful. Indeed, the day was depicted as a complicated and busy challenge for the capital itself (there is a whole other blog in Cardiff’s inferiority complex). It was almost as though a city with a population of 350,000 people, and a wider metropolitan population of 1.1 million, wouldn’t be able to cope. This aside, what was particularly interesting about the reporting in the run up to the day was how the WDL and UAF protests were given equal, if not greater, billing as policing problems for the city alongside the two other much larger events.

In report after report the WDL protest was cited as a potentially ‘explosive’ or a ‘flashpoint’. There was talk of the building ‘tension’ ahead of the potential ‘clashes’ between rival protesters. Some taxi drivers in the capital had decided to stage a protest against the WDL ‘on the busiest day of the year’, with some reports quoting panicked drivers claiming they wouldn’t work because they feared violence. David Williamson of the Western Mail spoke of reports of ‘former Welsh football hooligans joining a ready-made army in opposition to Islamist ideology’ a thought he said would ‘send a shiver down the spine of anyone who fears for social cohesion’.

As the ‘tension’ built in the run up to the day politicians from across the political spectrum joined together in condemnation of the WDL. Peter Hain, the former Welsh secretary and Neath MP, called for a ‘big turnout of people’ to oppose the WDL. He went on to say that the fact the march was on the same day as Wales against South Africa would be ‘ironic, if it wasn’t so sinister’.

Hain was joined by Assembly Members such as Plaid’s Leanne Wood, vice president of Searchlight in Wales, in condemning the WDL and calling for people to attend the counter-protest. All of this was backed by the First Minister himself, Carwyn Jones, telling the Daily Post that the ‘Welsh Defence League has no place in Wales’. The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan and the General Secretary of the Muslim Council of Wales, Saleem Kidwai, released statements saying the march would ‘undermine efforts to promote tolerance and diversity.’

All this press attention, all these statements issued, and all this condemnation and panic for a static protest of 200 people.

On the day the WDL protest passed off with only four arrests. Four hundred counter-protesters marched alongside former First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Alun Michael MP and various religious leaders. The flashpoint, the subsequent racial tension, and the undermining of tolerance and diversity didn’t happen. None of which, of course, mattered to the WDL who had a massive amount of press-coverage for their half-baked ideas and drew more attention with a couple of hundred bussed-in boozed-up protesters than they could ever have hoped for.

In short, politicians, the media, the UAF and religious leaders all conspired to make the march in Cardiff into an event. The media, desperate for stories of conflict and panic engaged in ramping up the tension surrounding the day, whilst at the same time politicians gave the WDL yet more unwarranted legitimacy through their condemnation.

In effect, this protest should have been very small news indeed, but it instead turned into the story of the day.

Because of this the argument could be made that letting the police treat the WDL protests as a public order issue, whilst the rest of us to stay out of it is the best approach. ‘Oh! Stay at home! That’s what they told us in the 1930s’ cry the anti-fascists.  However, this isn’t the 1930s, and this isn’t the rise of Nazism or Fascism.

As reprehensible as the ideas the EDL/WDL are, they are not a serious threat to the social cohesion of the UK. They are not a serious organisation. The trouble is that every time they protest they are treated as if they are. This means that every time they march they win. In order to stop them winning journalists have to start behaving responsibly and not write for months about the build-up to a protest, then the protest itself and then three or four articles following it. Politicians need to be wary that when condemning the EDL/WDL they sometimes give them extremely unjustified legitimacy. The bigger name the politician has the more legitimacy they acquire. And finally, the UAF need to take a different approach to the problem, as all they are doing at the moment is promoting the organisation they despise.

It’s worth returning to that ‘you’re not English any more’ chant in concluding as it shows just how divorced from the people of Wales the Welsh Defence League and their English counterparts are. It also shows just how little they understand Wales.

But this lack of understanding isn’t just the case in Wales – it is the case across the UK.

When the EDL march in Wembley this month there will be the usual breathless reporting and angry counter-protests. And all this will occur in the most diverse borough in the UK. A place where multiculturalism is succeeding and diversity is truly working. The EDL couldn’t matter here in Wembley any less. Likewise the WDL don’t matter in Wales, a nation that prides itself on being open, diverse and welcoming to all people and all religions.

It is about time the press, politicians and protesters treated them accordingly.

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• stupocalypse
  This article is a paradox! My head is going to explode....
  
• miker
  It must be hard to write about how the EDL doesn't warrent writing about by writing about them
• objectiveish_alien
  if it involves flags or generates, or is derived from, negative emotions. i'm agin it. i'm also agin"fighting" anything. push against it you strengthen it and give it the attention it wants. all these fighting things come from a perverse egoism of one sort or another. negativity feeds off negativity. it's a law
• Melville2010
  I notice that police did quite a lot of shoving and pushing at the demostrations and they are the law...
• thomasparri
  I agree with your sentiments but in your comments on the press making a big deal out of small beans you can start by talking with the Independent editor. I got to your article following a link on the main page entitled "How should We Combat the EDL".
  Talk about overstating their influence and threat!
• Crumbs
  What was it George Orwell said? People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. If the authorities won't fight fascism, then no wonder people organise themselves and come out on the streets. The EDL have balls, and unfortunately balls may be needed before Islam is contained. Having said that, there is every indication that the EDL are disciplined and that they are doing what it says on their tin, and peacefully protesting Islamofascism. But if it ever does come to Belfast on the streets of English cities, it won't be a multiculti graduate in Media Studies who rescues your grannie from a burning terraced house.
• VanH
  The worrying thing is the climate in which the EDL and the BNP exist. This is a society with a Con/Lib coalition government (and New Labour before them, I could go way back) whose anti-immigration rhetoric and hostility towards the labour force, encourage division and hatred along racial lines. A society with a right wing mainstream media that delights in the concept of a continuing battle by white middle class Britain to keep Britain 'British'. A society where big business is allowed to come out on top EVERY time, and the gap between rich and poor gets bigger and bigger. These are the problems that we face. Huge problems. Groups such as the EDL feed off this, so while politicians openly condemn them, at the same time, these same politicians are cooking up an anti-immigration law here and an anti-trade union law there.
  
  Remember one of the election debates a few weeks back, with the leaders of the three main parties? It was like a race to see who could say the most condemning things about immigration. Whoever had the most anti-immigration policies was the winner as far as they all were concerned. It was very uncomfortable and disheartening to watch. With this, the likes of the BNP and the EDL fit right in.
  
  Why aren't we, the left, focusing on capitalist governments and private businesses who have a very real disdain for the less fortunate in society, who ALWAYS favour the rich over the poor?
  
  So, maybe we should let the EDL march alone. The police can deal with any anti social behaviour that occurs - after all they are well trained to stifle and contain protests and demos.
  
  And with the EDL coming to Wembley - why?? Wembley is very diverse and from what I've experienced of it, very harmonious. The EDL doesn't stand a chance in Wembley - no on will listen to their views. They shouldn't be granted an audience. We should ignore them just as we ignore the football fans who visit us once in a while.
• Mal
  An interesting piece and I do have some sympathy with your argument that denying the EDL/WDL/SDL the oxygen of publicity and boogeyman status will eventually result in them fading back into the mire they came from. They do however, bear closer scrutiny. Their strength in part comes from the wealthy backers they have and the ready pool of football fans/crews to recruit from. These aren't has beens or hangers on from a dodgy past. These are very real groups active across most football clubs. Wales has always had it's share of these groups, however much some welsh politicians want to paint it as an English problem. The defence leagues recruit from similar groups as the BNP and this has limited the WDL as the Swansea group have never been able to separate the two. The EDL has shown it can organise groups of thousands, in part through the existing football crews and in part through social media and websites. Five minutes on google or clicking on lists of Facebook "friends" can be very scary. Their demo in Cardiff failed in part due to the animosity between football crews, rather than good policing. The counter demo and wide ranging political backing showed real solidarity from across the community. The work within the Cardiff City supporters was incredible. The growth of these neo Nazi groups is fed by a media scapegoating minority groups and feeding the sense of injustice faced by what is an increasingly disenfranchised group. As a society we have to come to terms with where we are in the 21st century. As much as the answer isn't religious extremism it really isn't scapegoating and attacking difference among us. I do think that hatred can be defeated by solidarity fun and laughter and would be happy to see a festival of dancing and colour and singing meet the monotone fascists on the street, but I do know we have to meet them on the streets. its worth noting that the taxi drivers were striking as much to do with the everyday racism they face in Cardiff as the expected problems from the WDL/EDL demo.
• R. Broxted
  This deen is superior to every other deen.
• davidcatleugh
  The EDL/WDL may or may not be "serious" organistaions, but Islamism IS a serious threat to, and incompatible with, Western democracies
• TRUENEWS
  the way to deal with the far right is not to give them the oxygen of publicity,for that is what they crave
• R. Broxted
  Put your trust in your sword, and your sword in the BNP.
• Janine_85
  Sorry but I disagree. Simply ignoring them and not holding any counter protests gives them the confidence to come back in even bigger numbers, and creates the impression they have a lot of support. I agree with your comments regarding the media yet couldn't smile at the irony of you writing about the very thing you say has too much publicity.
  
  I think some of the UAF protests could have been better managed and more disciplined. At times, they have not been that much better than the EDL protests. However, we have already seen in this country what happens when they are simply ignored. Remember the EDL protests in Luton? They went unopposed by anyone-not even the UAF turned up, and they then marched through the town smashing up Asian owned shops and putting bricks through houses as well as setting fire to some. Same thing happened in Stoke when they were allowed to march and when the UAF counter march was significantly smaller
  
  At least if a counter march is organised, then the police are forced to keep both protests to a contained area-hence controlling the marches.
  
  While I agree that sometimes there is a bit of overkill with the coverage, the point is not that they are dangerous in the sense that they are going to take over the country or anything like that. But dangerous in the sense that if left unchecked, these thugs have already demonstrated what can happen when they are allowed to march through multi-racial towns, hurling abuse and acting violently-thereby potentially sparking a riot. It gives a nice excuse for the BNP to then come in and say 'hey, look multiculturalism isn't working, just look at the tension and riots in this town. Vote for us, we'll sort it out.'
  
  It should also be pointed out just as a little aside, that the NP have sometimes been seen marching with and in some instances directing marches -as in Stoke where a number of prominent BNP organisers were on the march with the EDL.
  
  I'm not saying the UAF are angels, they do sometimes attract a small faction of ultra left wing anarchists but so far they are the only people willing to challenge the EDL and the only people demonstrating what can happen if too many compromises are made to the BNP.
• danoxford
  The UAF could equally be described as 'extremists' with equally unpleasant ties to communist organisations- remember that Communism has been responsible for 150 million deaths. Socialist Worker and hammer and sickle flags frequently feature at their demos.
  
  The UAF have been strangely silent in opposing Islamofascism, and it appears that having brown skin exempts one from being held to account for racist, homophobic, misogynistic, anti- semitic or pro- terrorist views. I further resent the UAF deciding who I can and who I cannot listen to with their ridiculous 'no platform' policies and disruption of legitimate, lawful and legal protests, meetings and canvassing- this is a democracy and the BNP got 950,000 votes at the Euro elections, resulting in two MEP's, so clearly they represent the views of some out there. The extreme left excel at preventing others from speaking, or labelling them if they do, while failing to tackle the (often legitimate) arguments and concerns they raise.
  
  Multiculturalism, globalisation and 'diversity' are ideological positions, not unassailable moral high grounds. Andrew Neather's revelations about NuLabour's plan to alter the make up of the people who voted for them to 'rub the rights nose in it' got up the noses of many- particularly those who then faced longer waits for housing, lower wages, lack of training and the undermining of entire communities. A Lord's report proved that this massive migration had negligible economic benefit- when you're living in a cramped accomodation with no job it's no comfort having a white middle class non- jobber telling you how lucky you are to be 'enriched by diversity' in 27 different languages.
  
  Weyman Bennett, he virtually incoherent 'spokesperson' of the UAF is currently bailed for suspicion of conspiring to organise violent disorder, so let's not pretend that the UAF are vanguards of peaceful democracy and freedom.
  
  Racism is wrong and I firmly believe that most people in Britain know and believe this. Allowing millions of migrants in to make an ideological point or gerrymander votes is also wrong, as is stifling any debate on the issue, either by labelling people 'bigots' or being bussed in by a dinosaur Union to violently disrupt legitimate protest or debate. The Unions did nothing to protect their workers from being undercut or about almost all jobs created under Labour going to foreigners. Communists believe in a global brotherhood of workers, Islamofascists unite under Islam- only those who put being (ethnically) English or British as their foremost uniting characteristic are seen as a 'problem' when loudly voicing their opinion.
• davdos
  Nicely argued and a pleasure to read. Thank you.
• danoxford
  The rise of the EDL and the BNP are a direct result of Labour's DELIBERATE social engineering to flood the nation with immigrants, their appeasement of extremist Islamofascism, their castigation of anyone who raised any objection ('Bigotgate' anyone?) and their obstinate failure to listen to, let alone represent, the views of those who they were charged with representing, in favour of a 'nanny knows best' aloofness and arrogance.
  
  In my experience, 'diversity' and 'multiculturalism' are 'celebrated' by white middle class left- leaning liberals who enjoy living for a few years in an area with a few trendy foreign- themed bars and restaurants before making excuses to move to a predominantly white, Tory- voting area with a good school to bring up their children.
  
  A limited amount of (skilled) immigration is a positive feature, bringing with it new ideas and skills. Dumping millions of indigenous people on a lifetime of benefits while importing record numbers of low- skilled. low- pay workers from the Third World, many of whom have poor English and some of whom positively hate everything we stand for is- dare I say it- not.
  
  The Welsh, along with the Scots and Irish, have been encouraged to keep their traditions and identity while being little affected by the devastating mass immigration that has affected the South East of England, the Midlands and many Northern mill towns. The English have borne the brunt of Labour's odious plans to socially engineer British society- a backlash was and is inevitable.
• R. Broxted
  Point taken but I always quote Woody Allen on these occasions. "Some say we should approach the far right with openness and tolerance, showing them where they are going wrong. I say we should approach them with baseball bats and pickaxe handles". How many Welshmen died 1939-45? The white working class vote deserted ZaNuLabour. It never went to the BNP as amny thought. One Trick Pony. (Bit like constantly writing about how fab Tony Blair was/is/will be). For evil to prevail all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing.
• Mark Morgan
  Establishing an English assembly will go along way to removing the raison d'etre for the EDL. It would also correct current constitutional imbalances. Such an assembly could be located in Birmingham, Manchester, or alternatively on a 2 year rotational basis between the different regions.
• TRUENEWS
  english mps on english issue, scots on scottish etc all on british issues
  no need for anothe wasteful holyrood carbuncle
  you could have an english assembly sitting in westminster hall we don't need another building in one of the world's most expensive areas
  no need for
• Furby
  Or build it somewhere that isn't London...
• Mark Morgan
  Definitely not London, either Manchester or Birmingham would be the natural contenders for an English assembly. Westminster would remain the British assembly, Downing Street the home of the Prime Minister.