Featured articles from the HOPE not hate campaign

Anders Behring Breivik was in contact with the EDL

Searchlight Press Release | Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Anders Behring Breivik was in contact with the EDL, supported their aims and was involved in the Norwegian Defence League, Searchlight can reveal.

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Policing the English Defence League

Searchlight Magazine by Nick Lowles | Tuesday, 22 February 2011

After eighteen months and over 30 protests, two distinct ways have emerged in which the police deal with English Defence League demonstrations. There are the examples of Bradford and Leicester where the police forcefully imposed their will on the EDL and made it clear they rejected its divisive agenda. That contrasts with Peterborough, Nuneaton and Preston where the police sought dialogue and agreement with the EDL and offered a much more neutral approach. read more

A town divided?

Searchlight Magazine by Nick Lowles | Tuesday, 25 January 2011

In a few weeks’ time thousands of English Defence League (EDL) supporters will take to the streets of Luton for their latest anti-Muslim demonstration. What will probably be their biggest demonstration to date also has the potential to be the most violent. It has all the ingredients for trouble, something Luton can ill afford, especially at a time when the town is already attracting an unenviable reputation as a base for extremism. read more

Recession politics: The HOPE not hate campaign in 2011

Searchlight Magazine by Nick Lowles | Tuesday, 25 January 2011

The coming year will be dominated by economic hardship as the austerity measures begin to bite. Job losses, increased taxes and rising living costs will put everyone under strain and, as history has taught us, when people feel under pressure so resentment, fear and hate rise. read more

The Extremist Defence League

Searchlight Magazine October 2010 by Simon Cressy | Tuesday, 26 October 2010

The English Defence League likes to parrot its worn out mantra, “We are not the BNP and we are not nazis”, over and over again. Simon Cressy takes a closer look and finds a different story. read more

English Defence League leader scurries into the shadows

Searchlight Magazine August 2010 by Matthew Collins | Wednesday, 25 August 2010

The far-right English Defence League reacted badly to the unmasking of its secretive leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in last month’s Searchlight. read more

The case against a counter-demo

Searchlight Magazine August 2010 by Nick Lowles | Monday, 23 August 2010

Later this month English Defence League supporters hope to parade their hatred through the streets of Bradford and the HOPE not hate campaign is pulling out all the stops to prevent them. One thing we will not be doing however is to support a counter-demo read more

English Defence League: It is time to act

Searchlight Magazine July 2010 by Nick Lowles | Wednesday, 21 July 2010

The decision by the Troxy to cancel the booking for the Islamic conference that was due to be held in East London last month was met with a huge sigh of relief. The English Defence League cancelled its own counter-protest and a potential serious clash with the local Muslim communities was averted. read more

The BNP past of the EDL leader

Searchlight Magazine June 2010 by Nick Lowles and Simon Cressy | Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Searchlight can exclusively reveal that the leader of the English Defence League is a former British National Party member who has served 12 months’ imprisonment for assaulting an off-duty police officer. read more

English Defence League cracks begin to show

Searchlight Magazine January 2010 by Simon Cressy | Thursday, 14 January 2010

The English Defence League was born in 2009, but as we begin 2010 Simon Cressy wonders whether the EDL is about to self-destruct read more

People Together People Together

Searchlight Magazine October 2009 by Nick Lowles | Monday, 19 October 2009

Nick Lowles explains how the threat from the English Defence League should provide us with an opportunity to promote the society we want to live in. read more

Businessman bankrolls ‘street army’

Searchlight Magazine October 2009 by Nick Lowles | Saturday, 17 October 2009

A middle-age, respectable looking man has emerged as a key figure behind the English Defence League. Alan Lake, a 45-year-old businessman from Highgate, North London, sees the EDL as a potential “street army” willing to be deployed against what they claim is rising Islamisation of modern Britain. read more

English Defence League: Football hooligans and far-right politics

Searchlight Magazine September 2009 by Nick Lowles | Monday, 21 September 2009

BNP leader Nick Griffin went on air last month to distance the BNP from the hooligan protests. As usual what he did not admit was that many of the leading figures in the Luton protest are BNP supporters. Just like Oldham in 2001, Griffin denied responsibility while his own followers were inciting hatred and violence. read more