#edl #racism - 78 English Defence League fanatics claim whiplash injuries...but only 25 were on coach http://ow.ly/1aCiy8
The obscure and rather unpopular Scottish Defence League (SDL) has a history of hiding in pubs and its protest in Stirling yesterday was no different.
A group of around 30 misfits, a national mobilisation by all standards, saved Stirling from Islamic extremists by entering a pub, getting drunk, waving around some poor quality flags and intimidating any members of the public they came into contact with.
The SDL has been humiliated in all of its protests to date. Formed last year, the group is sponsored by the English Defence League and has a small membership with close links to the fascist British National Party.
Their plan to hold a protest in Glasgow was quickly called off when the fascists realised there would be a massive mobilisation of counter protesters to greet them. The SDL may have chosen Stirling as the alternative location because Central Scotland Police have taken a more sympathetic approach towards their activities than their counterparts in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In the end, even Stirling proved to be no safe haven for the fascist group who faced a counter mobilisation called by the Scottish Anti-Fascist Alliance (SAFA). In a statement on their website SAFA say that repeated failures by the SDL to organise properly and in large numbers call into question whether the group poses a viable threat any longer:
“We will be keeping tabs on them but the fact that they cannot organise publicly for fear of ridicule poses the question, are they really a viable threat? I answer no. Today there were 1000 EDL in Preston opposed by only 150 anti-fascists. that is a depressing statistic but goes to illustrate that the line for the North has been drawn. Scotland flatly rejects the BNP and National Front and its bedfellows the SDL. They are, at best emotionally unstable and at worst sociopaths.”
Visit the SAFA website for an account of what happened in Stirling (http://scottishantifascist NULL.org NULL.uk/?p=158) yesterday.
Tags: anti-fascist, BNP, British National Party, counter-protest, Fascism, Protest, racism, SAFA, Scottish Anti-Fascist Alliance, Scottish Defence League, SDL, Stirling
