EDL split widens

Speight: Time to hang the curtains up?

The split in the English Defence League (EDL) has worsened after the group’s leadership group removed Gail Speight as the Yorkshire regional organiser yesterday.

Speight had been under pressure after supporters of former EDL member John “Snowy” Shaw became embroiled in the internal wrangling and arguments as to whether Speight had stolen money from the organisation. The alleged collection of monies was to be distributed to a number of causes the EDL had promised the monies to.

Shaw and his cronies allege that Speight instead spent the monies collected on alcohol and food for herself and her family.

Arguments within the Yorkshire region began to surface towards the end of last year and were not helped when drug dealer and police informant John “Snowy” Shaw (better known for his mistreatment of animals) took advantage of the leadership vacuum within the organisation to launch a bitter campaign against Speight, to which no-one in the leadership came to her aid.

I say a ‘bitter’ campaign, when in fact much of the campaign was in fact just vulgar rumours and some appalling picture graphics that alleged very unsavoury activities on EDL away-days on coaches. We cannot show them here, but I’m sure anybody that has a teenage son can imagine the sort of puerile vulgarity therein.

Speight, a share holder in the EDL’s moribund merchandising wing was eventually removed from position yesterday and all hell has broken lose as a result of it. Threats of violence are not uncommon between EDL members, and this now has threatened to spill over to the London activists who are supposed to be in Dover today.

Much of the anger in the EDL has been directed as serial punch-bag Dave Bolton who is himself the target of moves to oust him.

One female member has told us that the activities that Bolton and his small group of friends have planned for the hotel they are staying at the night before the Dudley rally next month are “sick and depraved”, and of course, likely to be paid with out of EDL funds. If Bolton shows his face in Dover today, some people from Yorkshire will want to know why the proverbial pot has called the proverbial kettle black.

As well as the EDL in Dover today, a small gang of the shrinking gang around the South East Alliance are making an appearance to, they claim, ‘pay back’ the hiding they took from football fans recently.

Their glorious leader Paul Prodromou will no doubt be delighted to his hat that he lost that day being waved at him, but do not expect to see cucumber wielding Nazi Eddie Stanton; he apparently “bottled” it at the last minute and will not be making the trip.

Bolton: A target for EDL thugs and the vice squad