Management of a North Town pub have hit back after English Defence League members advertised they would gathering there ahead of Saturday’s Maidenhead town centre demonstration.

EDL members posted on their Facebook page that the march would start from the Farmer’s Boy in Harrow Lane before heading into the High Street.

But members actually congregated outside Noctors Pub in Queen Street from 11am before marching down King Street and rallying outside Market Place for speeches.

Management of the Farmer’s Boy have said they closed the pub until 5pm because they did not want EDL members drinking there and did not want to be associated with the protest.

The pub said that a group of members came to the pub shortly after 5pm when they re-opened but were ejected and told to move on by police officers.

Theresa May was last night dramatically ambushed at a constituency meeting by the head of the far-right English Defence League.

The Home Secretary fears the group – whose marches she has banned in the past – will now seek to exploit the face-to-face confrontation for a propaganda coup.

The self-proclaimed head of the EDL, who normally gives his name as ‘Tommy Robinson’, managed to by-pass security checks by posing as the companion of one of Mrs May’s constituents.

Ambushed: Home Secretary Theresa May was confronted by English Defence League founder Stephen Lennon AKA 'Tommy Robinson' at constituency meeting

He then began haranguing the Home Secretary about why the EDL – whose demonstrations have been marred by violence – was treated differently to other groups.

Mrs May says she walked away from the exchange in Maidenhead Town Hall – which comes ahead of a planned local march in the town by the EDL today.

Normally, the leader of a known extremist organisation would have no chance of getting near to the Home Secretary.

She told the Mail: ‘My concern now is that he will try to make something of it, which he should not do. He did not have a meeting with me – I was completely door stepped. I did not even recognise him.

‘This is a group whose purpose is to divide and to encourage hatred in our society and I condemn them for that.’

One concern is the group may claim to have formally met Mrs May, in a bid to gain some political legitimacy.

Normally, the Home Secretary’s meetings would be closely vetted – reflecting the fact she is not only a Cabinet minister, but in charge of national security.

But MPs, under long-standing convention, agree to sit down with any constituents who have concerns in open meetings, normally held in public buildings.

Mrs May had an appointment with a man who was complaining about his treatment by the police. Constituents will often be joined by a family member or friend.

When the man sat down, his colleague said to Mrs May: Do you know who I am? I’m the head of the English Defence League’.

He then began complaining about how the EDL had been treated, saying it was different to Muslim groups, and demanding an appointment of his own. She refused.

Mrs May recently accepted Leicester City Council’s application to ban a planned EDL march in the city. The EDL responded by holding a static demonstration numbering 1,000.

The Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group staged a counter-protest numbering 700. One police officer was taken to hospital with a leg injury and two protesters were treated by paramedics for minor injuries.

The English Defence League (EDL) formed in the wake of a demo by a small group of Muslims at a Luton homecoming parade in March 2009.

Since then they have protested all over the UK against  ‘radical Islam’. In recent months, there have been suggestions the group could become a political party.

Opponents accuse the group of seeking to spread a message of hatred. There have been claims the group is made up of a number of football hooligans.

Leader Tommy Robinson – whose name is an alias – claimed: ‘The British people want to have their voices heard. A resistance to Islamification was always going to happen.’

A number of anti-fascist groups have attempted to unmask his real identity. The EDL has denied a string of names.

MPs surgeries have in the past been the scene of heated clashes and even violence.

Last year, Roshonara Choudhary stabbed Labour minister Stephen Timms seriously wounded the Labour MP Stephen Timms.

Inspired by terrorist websites, she lunged at him and stabbed him twice before being restrained by a security guard and arrested.

A KIRKLEES police chief claims it will be ‘business as usual’ in Dewsbury next weekend, despite a planned demonstration.

As we reported two weeks ago, the far-right English Defence League is planning action in the town on Saturday June 11.

A member of the Dewsbury division of the group said it was expecting hundreds of people to visit Dewsbury for the demonstration outside the town hall.

But this week Chief Supt John Robins, Divisional Commander of Kirklees Police said officers were prepared and working with organisers.

“We have received notification from local EDL members that they intend to hold a static demonstration outside Dewsbury Town Hall on the afternoon of Saturday June 11.”

He added: “West Yorkshire Police has a great deal of experience in policing these kinds of events and we are working with the council and communities to put plans in place.

My aim is to ensure it is business as usual for the traders, businesses and the people of Dewsbury on the day.”

AN English Defence League supporter who violently attacked a police horse during demonstrations in Blackburn has been sentenced.

The town’s magistrates heard Robert Gavin Tromans punched the animal eight times about the neck as police formed a mounted cordon to control a crowd in Northgate.

Tromans, 29, of Beverley Road, West Bromwich, pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour last month.

He has now been ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work and pay £85 costs.

Peter Wilde, prosecuting, said the mounted officer described the crowd as ‘volatile and angry’.

Tromans tried to push through the cordon of mounted officers and PC Palmer Davies pushed him back.

He grabbed her by the wrist and tried to pull her down.

Mr Wilde said: “She was able to release his grip and he then started punching her horse about the neck with a clenched fist.

“He landed about eight blows.”

Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said Tromans, a former soldier, was a supporter of the EDL but not a member and had attended the rally with an organised coach party.

He was making his way back to the coach when the police blocked the way with the mounted cordon.

He said: “He found himself being pushed against the horse and the horse was pushing back.

“He says the horse stood on his foot and he showed the bruises it caused to an officer when he was being interviewed after his arrest.

“In these circumstances he became annoyed and there was an exchange of words with the officer.

“His intention was to get back to his coach and not to cause any trouble.”

The EDL protest in Blackburn on April 2 saw 2,000 people take part in Northgate outside King George’s Hall.

A separate counter-demo took place at Sudell Cross.

• A 48 year old man took a swing at a police officer on duty at the English Defence League rally in Blackburn in April.

Blackburn magistrates heard Patrick Joseph Doyle caught the officer on the temple and knocked his helmet off.

And the officer had to follow Doyle into a hostile crowd in order to execute an arrest.

Doyle, of Cobourg Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty.

He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, made subject to community supervision for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs

CCTV images of the man police want to question over the attack

A racist thug who abused and attacked a passer-by in a shopping precinct is being hunted by police.

The man, who was wearing a T-shirt promoting the English Defence League, targeted a 31-year-old Asian man as he walked through the Wheatsheaf Centre in Rochdale town centre. Images from CCTV cameras have been released by police in a bid to identify him.

The thug began to racially abuse the man as he walked past then grabbed hold of his shirt collar and pressed a ballpoint pen to the side of his face. Police said the victim could also feel a sharp item being pressed to his back.

He struggled free but the abuse continued until security guards intervened.

The thug then escaped. He is white, in his late 40s to early 50s, around 6ft tall and skinny. He was wearing a T shirt labelled ‘EDL Stockport’.

Sgt Colin Macdiarmid said: “The abuse this victim suffered can only be described as vitriolic and appalling. Thankfully he was not hurt though the behaviour of the offender led him to fear for his safety.

“Racist thugs are not welcome anywhere in Greater Manchester.”

Call police on 0161 856 9961 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

BLACKPOOL traders have slammed a controversial rally on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Shop owners said they lost thousands of pounds on Saturday as far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) marched through the resort.

Many were forced to roll the shutters down for the day as thousands of demonstrators and a police ring of steel saw the Promenade closed and 10ft high steel fences put into place.

And businesses which remained open reported a “very slow” day – on what should have been one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Police said they had made 10 arrests, mostly for people being drunk and disorderly, two for public order offences and one for possession of an offensive weapon.

Hoteliers said they had expressed “deep concern” at the rally being held over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The EDL had been convinced to move the demonstration to the weekend to avoid it clashing with the football season.

Confectioners, Sweet and Cuddly on the South Promenade, stayed open until mid-afternoon and served just a handful of customers.

Shop assistant Amy Robinson told The Gazette: “We have made a loss today – on what should have been the busiest day of the year.

“People have been scared to come out, especially to this end because we are so close to South Pier.

“As a small business we rely on holiday trade, it is our lifeline, it was a mad decision.”

Next door bosses at Fantastic Gifts said takings were down 80 to 90 per cent from the normal average bank holiday takings.

Owner John Yates added: “I’m furious at the timing of this rally, it has affected the whole town. I would normally stay open until 10pm but here I am closing up before 2pm, I must have lost about £800 today which is not small fry.”

The Times headline

Well done Oi Oi Oi

Images sent to The Times recently by EDL leadership of their forces supporters was intended to ‘prove’ the British Armed Forces support their values & aims. What it proved was the prized reputation and popularity of our forces is one the Far Right continue to crassly hijack in a desperate bid to gain much needed legitimacy. The two images released to national press were worrying in distinctly different ways. One picture of an infantry soldier in theatre with an EDL flag and weaponry is an undisputed security risk. A risk for the soldier concerned, his comrades on operational tours at present and particularly for those in the future. It is absolutely correct that the Ministry of Defence is launching an investigation in regard to this individual, Not because he supports the EDL but because he is illegitimately aligning his Regiment to the EDL and their extreme anti Islamic beliefs.

“Troops are banned by the MoD from taking an ‘active role in political campaigning’. A spokeswoman said: “Instances of unacceptable behaviour in the armed forces are investigated, and appropriate action taken, up to, and including, dismissal. “An investigation is already under way into allegations that individuals have breached army regulations through their involvement with the EDL.” http://bit.ly/jn1G1S

And to be frank, how dare this guy? I don’t care how much EDL blogs crank away about how the ‘left are silencing democratic freedoms of service men to hold their views blah blah blah’, because at the end of the day the rules are laid out in black and white: Feel free to hold your views but Don’t politicise the Armed Forces. If the EDL wanted to showcase this supporter, why not do it when he’s in jeans at a demo with his mates? No they don’t, because the want his image in combats, in Helmand and with a GUN. There’s a reason why the only political leader to attend a repatriation at Wotton Bassett is the BNP’s Nick Griffin.

Real ‘Patriot’ at Wotton Bassett having none of it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226744/BNP-leader-Nick-Griffin-tries-hijack-homecoming-British-soldiers-killed-Afghanistan.html

The Far Right are the only political group who need the forces and the credibility they possess. And don’t tell me the EDL aren’t political, they exist to pressure government to change policy in regard to immigration, allocation of resources and legislation on freedom of religious expression, how much more political can you get?

The second image is of a number of soldiers in uniform at their home coming parade, and an EDL ‘Angel’ holding some poorly made EDL flags. Even though the division which organised the EDL presence at that parade insisted beforehand there would be no EDL ‘colours’ claiming “This isn’t about us this is purely a day for the brave lads”, they were lying. This was an organised, staged PR effort by the Blackburn division leader and an Angel known for violent behaviour and described by her fellow EDL contemporaries as an ‘unhinged c**’t’ and it should never, ever have happened. The MoD suspect a number of the soldiers posed for the photo were ‘hoodwinked’ into the crass shot, I accept that could be the case. Now those images are in the hands of the press and  the world, the MoD have had a massive wake up call. Anti Islamist persecutors of British Muslims should not be permitted any where near our troops. Particularly as this group are rapidly racking up arrests for burning Korans, targeting Mosques and marching with other prominent Far Right groups like Bloc Identitaire, who oppose racial mixing.

Recent EDL arrests for targeting a Mosque in the North East. Within days, images of northern soldiers are posted by EDL ‘Leaders’ in the press.

The Armed Forces, like many other institutions have historically been horrified when the have been identified as sources of institutional racism but don’t appear to tackle the initial causes of such ingrained problems. They have an opportunity now. They should take it.

British troops are working in dangerous conditions in an Islamic state, amongst Islamic communities in partnership with a national Islamicarmy to combat extremism. Why, for one minute would the EDL think troops publicising their ANTI Islamic messages and logos to a world newspaper is a sane, safe or responsible thing to do? They may whine and moan they aren’t allowed to use our troops to pull off looking like the natural bastions of patriotism but deep down they know I’m right. This is a no brainer. You would hope. I ran it past my dog and she got it. The EDL are constantly documented on YouTube chanting about burning Mosques, who wants to be associated with that when you are working in small Afghan towns and villages?

I have a new game I am playing with the EDL, it’s called stupid or dangerous?

Damn! people only read the short sweary blogs with pictures of Stephen Lennon in a bunny suit, oh well, I got THAT off my chest

SPORT ARE TROUPS, NOT TEH E D L

Darcy Jones

Further Reading:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F9031284.Lancashire____soldiers_posed_with_EDL_flags____probe%2F&h=f8c93

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/4288896/MoD-launches-investigation-after-racist-Facebook-comments.html

ARMY chiefs are investigating allegations that soldiers posed with English Defence League flags after Blackburn’s ‘homecoming’ parade.

The Ministry of Defence has been handed a dossier of pictures purporting to be of soldiers with material from the organisation.

One of the Blackburn photos is being studied to see whether one, or more, soldiers are posing with, or endorsing, a flag representing the right-wing EDL.

Other pictures taken elsewhere show a serviceman, with his face covered and holding a gun, standing in front of an EDL flag.

Troops are banned by the MoD from taking an ‘active role in political campaigning’.

A spokeswoman said: “Instances of unacceptable behaviour in the armed forces are investigated, and appropriate action taken, up to, and including, dismissal.

“An investigation is already under way into allegations that individuals have breached army regulations through their involvement with the EDL.”

Last December’s march by Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment soldiers through Blackburn attracted thousands of well-wishers and followed a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The event also attracted scores of EDL protesters who carried banners and flags.

Some of the photos taken are now being investigated by army chiefs.

An MoD source said: “There’s a group of soldiers and an EDL flag and it is hard to tell whether a civilian, or a soldier, is holding it.”

Blackburn with Darwen EDL spokesman Ned Kelly said: “Some soldiers are involved with the EDL for their own reasons, but they should be free to be able to do so.”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: “These are serious allegations and it is correct that the MoD should investigate them.”

Charlene Downe's grandmother, Jessie Brock, who has been given a section 14 order (given out for a public order offence) by the police for sitting on a bench outside Mr Beanz wearing Justice for Charlene t-shirt

THE distraught grandmother of missing schoolgirl Charlene Downes has hit out at police after they banned her from campaigning outside the takeaway at the centre of her granddaughter’s murder probe.

Jessie Brock, 72, from North Shore, was sitting on a bench outside Mr Beanz wearing a ‘Justice for Charlene’ T-shirt when officers handed her a public order notice – forcing her to move away from the area.

The distressed pensioner (pictured above) claims an officer told her she was wearing an “offensive T-shirt” and would have to leave the area outside the takeaway on Dickson Road where members of protest group the English Defence League (EDL) were staging a demonstration.

Police say Mrs Brock was politely asked to move and an officer even gave her a chair to sit on.

A Lancashire Police spokesman added: “We’ve put in place a number of conditions for the protests outside Mr Beanz takeaway which includes limiting the number of people allowed to demonstrate right outside.

“Mrs Brock and a number of others were politely asked if they would move to an alternative site.

A police spokesman said they had no information from officers to say the T-shirt had been deemed offensive.

Admin note: This article was first published by Jai at PickledPolitics. However, it was later edited due to length issues. We feel that this particular article deserves to be published in its entirety as it highlights some very important points.

Further to the recent Pickled Politics article highlighting the EDL’s “Sikh” spokesman Guramit Singh’s admission of hatred towards other South Asians along with his ridicule of the God of Sikhism & Islam, plus the EDL’s escalating hijacking of Sikh imagery, some further information about Guramit himself is continuing to come to light.

Doublespeak in action

A new Youtube video focusing specifically on Guramit is an excellent compilation and definitely worth watching in full. The repeated juxtaposition of Guramit’s disingenuous assertions about the EDL compared with the ugly reality demonstrates the point particularly effectively. You can watch the video via Youtube here.

“I consider the Guru Granth Sahib to be my Guru”

In response to the recent ultimatum issued to Guramit, stating that he must renounce the EDL or potentially face excommunication by the global Sikh authorities at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Guramit subsequently released a public statement on the EDL’s main blog declaring that he refuses to leave the EDL irrespective of the ultimatum and threatening retaliation (including making a sinister threat to involve unspecified supporters from “outside the Sikh community”) if any attempts were made to excommunicate him.

Along with claiming that the EDL are the modern-day ideological counterparts of Guru Gobind Singh’s historical Khalsa — an assertion which is not only highly presumptuous but also extremely inaccurate — Guramit also referred to various aspects of Sikh theology and history in an attempt to justify his own behaviour to date as a high-profile member of the EDL. Guramit’s statement included the following self-contradictory remarks:

Although I am not a practicing Sikh myself, I consider Guru Granth Sahib Ji to be my Guru. This religion has taught me a lot, and continues to be an inspiration to me.

As a Sikh myself, let me make the following indisputable fact absolutely clear for the public record:There is nothing whatsoever in the entire Guru Granth Sahib supporting any of theobscenity-laden claims Guramit has repeatedly been making about Islam, Muslims, the Prophet Mohammad and Allah. Not even remotely.

In fact, the Guru Granth Sahib’s core message is precisely the opposite; it even includes hundreds of sacred verses originally written by Muslims, along with Islamic names for God such as “Allah”. And the same humanitarian message of the unity of God irrespective of what name people call their deity by and the unity & equality of mankind irrespective of what religious affiliation people may identify themselves by is also deliberately symbolised in the architecture of the Golden Temple itself; “Allah” and Muslims are explicitly included.

Guramit’s assertions are directly contradicted by the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, no less, who personally compiled the final version of the Guru Granth Sahib, which Guramit claims to be familiar with and to hold in such reverence. Guru Gobind Singh essentially summarised the core message of the Guru Granth Sahib and thereby the fundamental humanitarian & theological message of Sikhism in the Akal Ustat, which makes the religion’s actual stance towards Islam, Muslims and Allah crystal clear:

“Someone calls himself a Hindu, another a Turk, someone a Shia, another a Sunni. Recognise the whole of humanity as one race……

He the One is the only God of us all: it is His Form, His Light that is diffused in all…..

The temple or the mosque are the same, the Hindu worship or the Muslim prayer are the same; all humans are the same, it is through error they appear different…..it is the one God who created all.

The Hindu God and the Muslim God are the same; let no man even by mistake suppose there is a difference.”

“Islam-apologists”

Bear in mind that Guramit is on record as publicly describing Islam as “evil”, along with publicly claiming that there is no difference between Islam in general and “militant Islam”.

His recent public statement on the EDL’s website responding to the aforementioned ultimatum also includes a derisive reference to what he terms “Islam-apologists”. Therefore, by Guramit’s own warped definition, that would make Guru Gobind Singh himself an unequivocal “Islam-apologist”.

And the same allegation would apply to – for example — the Sikh Guru who invited a Muslim saint tolay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Or the Sikh Guru who had a mosque builtfor the Muslim population of the town he’d founded in Punjab. Or the Sikh Guru who gave military assistance to the Mughal crown prince Dara Shukoh during the war of succession against Aurangzeb, after the latter had imprisoned (and ultimately successfully overthrown) their father Emperor Shah Jahan.

The Letter of Victory

In his recent public statement attempting to justify his own conduct, Guramit also mentioned theZafarnamah, meaning the “Letter of Victory”. This was a defiant letter which Guru Gobind Singh wrote in Persian to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, condemning him for his religious bigotry, false piety and abuse of power.

Guramit stated that, in the letter, Guru Gobind Singh condemned Aurangzeb for breaking oaths he’d taken on the Quran. However, what Guramit conveniently failed to also mention is the fact that the same section of the letter includes the following remarks by Guru Gobind Singh:

“If the Prophet [Mohammad] himself were here, I would make it my special object to inform him of your treachery.”

The Guru continues:

“I knew not that you, O man, were a perjurer, and a worshipper of self, and a breaker of faith. Nay, you keep no faith, nor mind religion, nor know God, nor believe in Mohammed. He who observes the tenets of his faith, he makes a promise but never to break it. You have no idea of what an oath on the Quran is: Nay, you have no faith in the One God.”

Guru Gobind Singh’s eloquent condemnation of Aurangzeb, of course, also has pertinent ramifications for Guramit’s similarly bigoted, dishonest and self-aggrandising egotistical behaviour. And again, Guru Gobind Singh’s own stance directly contradicts the various obscenity-laden allegations Guramit has repeatedly made against the Prophet Mohammad and Islam as a whole, including public speeches at EDL rallies where Guramit has also openly demonised Britain’s entire Muslim population and sadistically revelled in his persecution of them.

Guramit is conspicuously silent about a few more historical facts: Firstly, Guru Gobind Singh listed in the Zafarnamah what he believed to be Aurangzeb’s redeeming qualities and stated that if Aurangzeb would reconsider his bigotry, hypocrisy and fanaticism, the Guru would be happy to meet him and would treat him with great kindness. Guru Gobind Singh’s letter does indeed seem to have finally struck a nerve with Aurangzeb; the emperor immediately ordered his officers to stop harassing the Sikhs, and both Guru Gobind Singh and Aurangzeb made preparations to amicably meet each other. Unfortunately the aged emperor died before they could actually meet, although Aurangzeb’s letters to his sons in his final days indicate a profound regret for his wasted life.

Saint of India

Furthermore, not once in the Zafarnamah or at any point in his entire life did Guru Gobind Singh ever express any animosity towards Islam. On the contrary; as can be seen very clearly indeed in the extract above from the Zafarnamah, the Guru’s main allegation against Aurangzeb was that the emperor’s attitudes were a result of him not being a genuinely pious Muslim, and that if Aurangzeb had been a true believer in (and follower of) Islam then he would never have engaged in such behaviour. Guru Gobind Singh’s stance was of course the exact opposite of the EDL and Guramit’s own attitudes towards Islam and Muslims.

The story doesn’t end there. After Aurangzeb’s death, Guru Gobind Singh provided extensive military assistance to one of the late emperor’s more liberal sons during the war of succession for the Mughal throne and played a pivotal role in facilitating the prince’s victory, for which the new Mughal emperor – Bahadur Shah I – subsequently publicly honoured Guru Gobind Singh with the formal title Pir-i-Hind, meaning “Saint of India”.

Words from the wise

Guramit made the following remark in his recent public statement: “My religion teaches that the truth will always prevail.”

Readers can draw their own conclusions about the underlying reasons for the often vast gulf between what Guramit claims about his own actions and what he actually does. Either way, as someone who claims to be familiar with the Guru Granth Sahib, Guramit should never forget the very first words on the very first page, written by Guru Nanak himself: ”There is one God; His name is Truth”. Or Guru Gobind Singh’s declaration in the Zafarnamah: “He alone is a man who keeps his word; not that he has one thing in the heart, and another on the tongue”.

Failing that, Guramit would do well to heed the following famous advice by President Abraham Lincoln:

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”