EDL holds out begging bowl yet again

Barely had the New Year’s bells rung and the English Defence League (EDL) had yet again stuck out a begging bowl.

This time the rapidly disintegrating group is hoping fellow fascists will dig deep to fund “full demo support” as it plans to return to Rotherham next month.

Why are they returning to the South Yorkshire town? Well they’re upset after four of its activists were jailed just before Christmas.

Reece Mclaren, Daniel Luty, Dennis Farrell and John Sheridan were found guilty of violent disorder after a clash with locals following marches by the EDL, South East Alliance and Britain First in September 2015.

The locals, ten Asian men, had previously been cleared having understandably said they were merely defending themselves. According to the EDL this outcome was a result of “The pressure put on by the left wing system and it’s appeasing sympathisers” and blamed the judge. Of course it was the jury who found them not guilty but that’s a little trickier for graduates of the School of Hard Knocks to get their empty heads around.

But back to that curiously vague description of what any cash raised might be used for. Perhaps lessons have been learned from previous fundraising exercises which were supposed to fund PA systems and two-way radio which mysteriously never seemed to materialise.

Cynics might suggest that “full demo support” might include ensuring the notoriously thirsty leadership are not left parched in the February sun,. But of course suggestions that the money could be used to purchase cheap Belgian lager are wide of the mark.

Besides clear heads will be needed to handle a little local difficulty after Graham Jackson, leader of the English Defence League’s Welshcontingent announced a day trip to Liverpool. Crossland & Co. have yet to confirm if this unofficial announcement is backed by leadership officialdom.

It might be that they want a little time to mull things over given that recent forays by the far right to Liverpool have not gone at all well. Certainly the reaction from Liverpudlians, including Mayor Joe Anderson, suggest no red carpet will be rolled out.

A Liverpool Echo Facebook thread attracted only derision from the majority of commentators. The exceptions were Garron Helm formerly of the now proscribed National Action and a convicted and jailed anti-semite . Helm was joined by Samantha Lambie “poster girl for the Scottish Neo-Nazi movement.”

Both are excellent examples of why the far right are not welcome in Liverpool or any of our towns and cities.