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Demo by far right group
Tuesday 2nd March 2010, 11:30AM GMT.
A far right party is set to descend on the Black Country on Easter Sunday – sparking protests from council leaders who say the group is not welcome.
The English Defence League (EDL) plans to bring 2,000 supporters to Dudley on April 4 in protest at a planned mosque in the town.
The four leaders of the political parties in Dudley today joined forces in condemning the demonstration.
Marches by the EDL in Birmingham have attracted counter-demonstrations from Unite Against Fascism, with angry scenes turning into running battles.
Tory council leader Anne Millward, Labour’s David Sparks, Dave Tyler of the Liberal Democrats and UKIP’s Malcolm Davis have all signed a public notice to be printed in the Express & Star this week calling on the group to abandon its plans.
Labour leader Councillor David Sparks said today: “The vast majority of people who will be involved do not come from Dudley. Some have a record of football hooliganism and racial abuse. We fear they are clearly intent on violence They are just unwelcome.”
Lib Dem leader Dave Tyler said: “We don’t want this activity in Dudley.”
Chief Inspector Mark Payne of West Midlands Police said: “We are working closely with the local authority to plan for this event.”
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maybe if the council/government had listened to the vast majority of the Dudley population and threw out the plans for the mosque in the first place then people would not feel the need to march/protest.
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The Council DID reject the Mosque plans on purely planning grounds. It was the Government’s Planning Inspectorate in Brsitol that then overturned the councillors’ decision.
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who sold the land in the first place and what did they think they was going to build there
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prevent what…we are supposed to be living in a democratic society which includes freedom of speech and the right to protest….so deal with it.
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There’s a big difference between a peaceful protest and an EDL protest where they like to turn on the police and smash the towns they are protesting in.
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The EDL and BNP success is mainly a result of being ignored by mainstream parties/politics.
If you are ignored for long enough then eventually you will try and be a part of something that listens to you.
Unfortunately the EDL and BNP play on people’s insecurities and the ignorant policies of the Labour party over the last 13 years. It is a shame when it comes to this.
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A far right party is set to descend on the Black Country on Easter Sunday – sparking protests from council leaders who say the group is not welcome!!!!!
HOW do council leaders know they are not welcome, have they asked the people of Dudley if they want these people to come here for whatever reason?????? From my experience and I live in Sandwell, councillors don’t talk to the electorate, they dictate to them and what Dudley council leaders are saying is that the Council Leaders don’t want these people to come here, and what the electorate want is of no consequence.
Labour leader Councillor David Sparks said today: “The vast majority of people who will be involved do not come from Dudley. Some have a record of football hooliganism and racial abuse.
SO Councillor David Sparks knows all the people that are likely to attend personally then?
So if all the people that attend have no criminal record, have never been convicted of football hooliganism and racial abuse, wouldn’t that be a “LIBELLOUS” comment he made, making him a criminal???
What about if all the people that attend are fine upstanding citizens who have never been in trouble with the law but because they want to attend a meeting for whatever reason, after reading Councillor David Sparks comment they could all be judged as miscreants by people seeing them gathered there?
Isn’t that prejudging these people? Isn’t that the main trouble with racial prejudice? It’s prejudging people of another race with how the prejudiced person sees them.
I personally have never had a problem with a person’s race or colour, I have had loads of problems with people with bad attitudes but that applies to all colours and races including White English people!!!!
A lot of the problems with racial prejudice are caused by people who prejudge people of another race without people getting to know the full facts about that person first, my neighbours come from all corners of the globe and we have a great community, I wouldn’t change my neighbours for all the money in the world.
Labour leader Councillor David Sparks, I suggest you stop being a hypocrite and judge people on their actions not on your prejudged misconceptions of them.
Jim of Bearwood.
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Freedom of speech – Correct Derek .
And a march to highlight how the working class man who wants to live in his own country & work to build a stable family life without the fear of crime / terroism etc is in fact the true victim in this country!.
Ref Your article E&S , get off your soapbox & let a group who represent the thoughts of a ‘SUBSTANTIAL’ amount of the country have their say ! .
Ps – from someone who has worked everyday & paid the applicable taxes for the last 24 years since the day of leaving school ! .
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And the first two comments sum up the kind of “rubbish” (I wanted to use a stronger word, but it would have never got past), that will be associated with this “protest”.
It’s 2010. Live and let live. However the PC brigade don’t help the situation either. Most folk have enough common sense to get on with each other, regardless of colour and race. We do it every day without thinking, which is the way it should be.
Be interesting to see how many of the rabble go to footie games and cheer on non white players, week in, week out.
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there are plenty of people from different races who support the EDL, but dont let the truth get in the way of your blinkered view.
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This is a far right group, the one legitimate far right group we have in this country has a history in causing racial hatred and voilence towards ethnic minorities, so forgive the majority of us if you think we’re ignoring people like this. The EDL did claim to stand for English heritage and stood up in protest of the disgusting heckling of our war heroes, but its slowly turned into just another hate mongering force, which deserves the negative press it now gets.
These people (that includes people on all sides) should go do some charity work and try making a real difference rather than causing tension in already volatile community relations by participating in such protests.
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Try setting up a church in Saudi Arabia or Iran and nobody would protest? Even in Algeria it would not go down well.
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If you do just a little research you will discover Iran has both Churches and Christians.
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My father fought against Hitler, for my right to demonstrate and say what i want to say. My father also lost two brothers during that war so mealy mouth councillors can strut around dictating to others what is right in their eyes, instead of listening to the voters who mistaken elected them into office. This once green and pleasant land is fast becoming a heathen country, and it must stop. sharia law is never coming to the UK while I and millions of others have breath in our bodies!!
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The EDL are just as extreme as the extremism they claim to stand against, they are on par with Islam 4 UK.
Funny how each time the EDL protest we can predict the outcome with 100% accuracy before the protest even starts – Stage 1 get drunk, Stage 2 time for a riot, Stage 3 Turn on police.
At previous EDL riots members of the sikh community have been attacked and hospitalised as the EDL seem unable to differentiate between an islamic extremist and a sikh.
The EDL claim not be a racist organisation but we can be guaranteed of nazi salutes by it’s every time they protest.
The chanting by the EDL at their protests suggests they are not against Islamic Extremists but against Islam in general.
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