All the EDL
The EDL had a pitiful turnout in London on Saturday, with a mere 50 of them on their national demo. They didn’t get to march to Parliament as they had intended and were harrassed and heckled by anti-fascists along the way.
EDL leader Ian Crossland had gloated and joked online about the murderous racist attack on worshippers at Finsbury Park mosque and the hate preachers at the EDL rally stayed true to form.
Everything is up in the air. The government is in chaos, risking peace in Ireland by making a pact with hard-line Ulster loyalists. There have been a number of terrorist attacks in quick succession. No one knows where Brexit negotiations will take us. The horror of Grenfell tower has created huge public anger which is spilling out onto the streets. On Monday night a terrorist inspired by the hate preachers of the far-right drove a van into a crowd of people outside a mosque in North London shouting “Kill all Muslims!”
These are vital times for those of us fighting for a better world and we are at a turning point. There is a real danger that the UK could see increasing attacks on Muslims and immigrants, fascists marching in greater numbers on the streets, a UK state allied with Trump, the bigots of the DUP calling the shots in government, hard Brexit. But the election showed a huge and no longer hidden desire for a different politics. There is the possibility that with renewed organising we could turn things around and create a future with more hope for working class people, for migrants, for everyone left out at the moment – turn around austerity, get rid of a brutal and racist government and drive the fascists back into shame and hiding.
