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Issue 283, Friday 30 November 2012 - 16 Muharram 1434 Home Office bans anti-Islam group march By Elham Asaad Buaras
The news came just two days after a Council-led delegation delivered a petition to Parliament calling on the Government to take action to protect the borough s residents. “This is a victory for the ordinary residents of Waltham Forest,” said Council Leader Chris Robbins in a statement to The Muslim News. “Thousands of people stood by us and joined our call to have the EDL - a far-right group with no ties to our borough - stopped in their tracks.” The Metropolitan Police allowed the EDL to carry out a static protest outside the House of Commons on October 27 ensuring that the EDL did not enter Waltham Forest. In fact the ban, enforced under section 13 of the Public Order Act covers all protests has been applied to the whole of Waltham Forest for 30 days and stretches to three neighbouring boroughs, Newham, Islington and Tower Hamlets. The EDL were planning to return to Waltham Forest on October 27 following their chaotic visit to the Borough in September. Having collected well over 5,000 signatures in a matter of weeks a delegation from Waltham Forest delivered its petition to the Home Office on September 23. On the same day the Metropolitan Police applied to the Home Secretary to ban the march based on “specific intelligence and information”. Vice-Chair of Unite against Fascism, Azad Ali, told The Muslim News, “This is a victory for the people of Waltham Forest and the whole anti-fascist movement. The EDL targeted the Muslim community in Waltham Forest but they did not reckon with the entire community turning out to reject their hatred.” |
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Council leader Chris Robbins was joined by local schoolchildren against the EDL march in Waltham Forest