Opposing the racist and hooligan EDL

On 9 July, the divisive, far-right English Defence League (EDL) planned to ‘invade’ several towns and cities to hold marches. Socialist Party members were part of the mass opposition that attempted to mobilise against the EDL’s poisonous ideas. In Plymouth the Trades Council, which comprises local trade union branches, organised a ‘festival of diversity’ that attracted 500 people.

The Socialist Party marched under the slogan: “Jobs, homes and services not racism!” We aimed to show to the people of Plymouth that there is a real socialist alternative to the far-right politics of hatred.

In Halifax, where the EDL also ‘invaded’, socialists stood firm in arguing with EDL members who tried to accost them and managed at least to make some of the marchers consider what they were saying.

Unemployment, poverty, lack of decent social housing and the harsh effects of savage Con-Dem cuts to jobs and services are the breeding ground for people to be targeted by the racist EDL. The Socialist Party campaigns for policies of job creation, house building and investment in public services and aims to build a real socialist alternative.