COMMENT: Angry mob spreading prejudice

This Black Country town is home to some of the warmest, most welcoming and friendly people anyone could ever be fortunate enough to meet.

But a long-running debate over what should have been a simple matter of planning permission has been usurped and twisted to provide an excuse for open racism, bitterness and hatred.

Thousands of people, including so-called football fans, plan to descend on Dudley for yet another protest.

The rhetoric, imagery and slogans of the group calling itself All Football Fans/Firms Against Islamisation are deeply unpleasant. Pictures of clenched fists against Union flags show these people have nothing more in mind than violence, or the threat of it, with a perverted interpretation of patriotism as its cause. Real football fans, too, would have nothing to do with this.

The consequence will be the same this time as with other marches by Britain First or the so-called English Defence League, if not worse.

Hard working traders could close for a day and lose much needed income. Families will avoid the town centre for fear of what will happen to their children if they are caught in violence.

The reputation of Dudley will be twisted beyond the recognition of those who love where they live.

Make no mistake, this is not a protest about the location of a mosque.

That issue is still subject to a decision by the High Court. The people planning to travel across the country to Dudley will come to spread a message of hatred, bile and division about a religion. They may purport to defend British values. In fact they do the very opposite. Deciding whether or not to allow a group of worshippers to use their own money to build a place in which to practise their faith is not 'Islamisation'. It is British democracy and fairness in action. It applies as much to Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and other places of worship as it does to Islam.

Those who believe in free speech would normally say that we must defend at all costs the right of peaceful protest and for the airing of views, however abhorrent they may be.

But how many more times must Dudley endure the parading through its streets of people with no legitimate grievance, save their hatred and intolerance towards fellow human beings? Surely there are laws against stirring up racial hatred. Prejudice and ignorance is like a cancer. It has spilled from football stadia onto the internet where it has grown and risks becoming out of control – and Dudley is set to pay the price.