Saturday’s English Defence League demonstration in Bradford was different from most of the previous ones, as this time it was not countered directly by Unite Against Fascism. Instead the EDL was driven out of town by leftwing and community activists from organisations that refused to be part of UAF and Hope Not Hate’s so-called ‘multicultural festival’.

Police harassment managed to stop the counter-demonstration going ahead, as planned by Leeds Anti-Fascism and Anti-Racism Network and Bradford United Against Racism, while UAF called for support for the ‘We are Bradford’ gathering. The police split up groups of people they suspected of being anti-fascist protestors. While leafleting in the city centre calling for a counter-demonstration, we were surrounded and forced to walk in twos – groups were not allowed. Some were threatened with arrest for standing with more than one comrade in the park next to Centenary Square. Albion Street, where the anarchist social club is located, was heavily surrounded. It was impossible to go in and out without being stopped and searched, filling out personal details and being photographed by a grumpy copper.

Disorganisation and disunity in the anti-fascist movement and among the left was evident. No-one had a clear idea of what was really going on. There were different events taking place at the same time in areas authorised by the police beforehand. So when a counter-demonstration seemed impossible, some left for the UAF event and some headed toward the official council gathering outside the city centre.

‘We are Bradford’ was absurd. It was located in an area far away from the eyes of the public – some even thought it was an EDL gathering because nothing apart from the police was visible from the main road. A dozen Asian youth who had come from Birmingham to defend the mosque near where the EDL was holding its “static assembly” were so frustrated: they refused to be part of it and soon left.

Some of the speeches were more appropriate to a guild hall celebration than an anti-fascist event. People were told to put their trust in those who did not let them walk freely with their companions – the police were clearly primed up to arrest anti-fascists at the drop of a hat.

After walking around the city in ones and twos, a number of community and anti-fascist activists – mostly unaffiliated to UAF – were finally able to gather metres from the EDL assembly. Despite smoke bombs, bottles and stones thrown from the EDL side amid chants of “We love the floods” (referring to the latest humanitarian crises in Pakistan), it was the anti-fascists the police attacked, forcing them into two separate streets and attempting to kettle them. There were confrontations, as people were determined to push back police lines to get closer to the EDL. The anti-fascist gathering grew in numbers, in opposition to the call of UAF and Hope Not Hate to stick with the ‘We are Bradford’ event. When a group of hundred or so managed to break out from the EDL’s main demonstration, UAF, Hope Not Hate and the mullahs called for people to stand by and watch, as the fascists went wild.

Without police permission and stewards, the unofficial counter-demonstration – made up of Asian youth, local residents and leftwing activists, including comrades from Workers Power, the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty and assorted anarchists – chased the EDL all the way, trapped them in Forster Square station and forced them out of Bradford.

It is vital to understand that if the counter-demonstration had not taken place, the state-friendly strategy of UAF and Hope Not Hate would have let the EDL free to rampage around the city and Bradford could have been labelled a success for the EDL. But what stopped them was the determination of the local youth and those unaffiliated to UAF, who stood face to face against the EDL in defence of the community.

by Rozh Ahmad
Leeds