Which is the England that the EDL is pretending to defend?
Certainly not the one in Southport, a community shattered by grief and horror at the knife attack at a dance event which left three little girls dead and several other children and adults fighting for their lives. A town and a community that came together not just to mourn, to comfort and to show solidarity with the victims and their families, but which took to the streets to clear up the mess left by a night of rioting. Children, shopworkers, builders and neighbours sweeping the streets, repairing the damage near the mosque apparently caused by EDL thugs. What is the England that these predominantly white, middle-aged men in their ill-fitting shorts and tee shirts stretched over beer bellies are pretending to defend? An England where fake news spreads disinformation and they’re too stupid to even question its authenticity; an England where more than 50 police officers are injured in a couple of hours of wanton hooliganism; an England where a community that prides itself on tolerance and cohesion is not left respectfully to grieve, but is instead forced to shutter shops, stay indoors and count the cost of damage.
And where are the voices of condemnation that were so strident in wanting to lock up peaceful anti-monarchists holding banners during the Coronation or ban organised marches in support of a ceasefire in Gaza? The then Home Secretary Suella Braverman called those ‘hate marches’ and a slew of similar comments from the usual quarters followed. The silence from those very same about the violence in Southport speaks volumes.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Nigel Farage, speaking from several thousand miles away and with apparently no attempt to find out what was actually happening, blamed riots in Leeds on the “politics of the subcontinent”. Said nothing to correct that when it transpired that local tensions were inflamed because of children potentially being taken into care. It’s one thing to have fake, probably Russian, news and social media feeds stirring up division and conflict with untruths but something entirely different when people who have been democratically elected to parliament do the same thing. Lee Anderson, another Reform MP was straight out of the traps applauding police for what seemed to be excessive force in detaining a man at Manchester airport but hasn’t been as vocal in condemning the violent thugs who attacked police officers in Southport.
Tommy Robinson fled the UK to avoid a court appearance after a ‘flagrant’ contempt of court during a demonstration in London – just imagine if that had been someone else arrested under anti-terror laws who’d hopped off on the Eurostar.
The siren voices of discord, division and violence are vile and dangerous. Rumours and misinformation breed rapidly in the putrid Petri dish of social media and lead to the ugly scenes in Southport, aided and abetted by people who should know better, who should be adult enough not to jump to conclusions or encourage others to do so. The dignity and compassion of the people of Southport, the response of the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and her shadow, the royal family and the metro mayor of Liverpool represent an England worth defending. Defending from the thugs of EDL and their ilk.
