Racists outnumbered in London and Oxford

By New Worker correspondent

THE GERMAN based Islamophobic organisation Pegida joined forces with English racists and fascists held a small static rally in Whitehall, London, while the English Defence League staged a march in Oxford attended by just over 100 supporters.

In both cases the racists were well outnumbered by around 300 anti-fascists.

In London a handful of Pegida supporters and friends assembled behind a banner while about 100 metres away around 100 supporters of Unite Against Fascism assembled with banners, placards, and literature stalls.

The Pegida group were joined by a group of Nepalese Ghurkhas. This rally had been organised for four o’clock, some said in the hope that some of the Oxford EDL supporters could get back to London to cover both events. But weekend rail repairs put an end to that plan.

But the Pegida event did swell a little when a group of serious hard core English Nazis, including Eddie Stampton, left their pub and arrived pursued by around 200 young Anti-Fascist Action members who exploded noisily into Whitehall and made some serious efforts to breach the police lines that separated fascists from anti-fascists.

These young anti-fascists had been waiting for a couple of hours in Trafalgar Square and indulging in a pillow fight to pass the time.

Police were forced to close Whitehall to traffic completely for a long time as they struggled to keep the fascists and anti-fascists apart.

So far Pegida attempts to raise support in Britain have been pathetic failures, with just four of their supporters turning up to one planned even in Edinburgh last month.

Meanwhile in Oxford more than 300 anti-fascists mostly locals and supported by the Oxford Students’ Union and local trade unions, came out to oppose the EDL march.

There were some scuffles as some EDL supporters tried to attack the anti-fascists. One police officer was slightly injured by a flying missile and there were two arrests.