Round up of the evening’s events

Some of us thought this morning that the purported list of anti-immigration demonstrations was a hoax; Southend police thought the same but patroled the area as a precaution. Although the performance at the Cliffs Pavilion theatre was cancelled there was no trouble.

There were reports of  minor altercations in Aldershot and Southampton, and a more serious one in Portsmouth.

A small breakaway group of protesters closed off all four lanes of Mile End Road near the Norman House UK Border Agency offices in Portsmouth.   The group held a Union Jack flag across the road and shouted “save our kids”.  The traffic on the busy route came to a standstill.

About 10 men lay in the road, one declaring that he was a speed bump. Only a few police had followed the group. But they summoned three police vans containing riot police.

Police defused the situation and moved the protesters back on to the footpath.

Later: A hardcore group of protesters are now challenging police more aggressively.  A stand-off occurred between younger demonstrators who tried to block a police van. Once again the traffic was stopped as men gave offensive hand gestures towards police and shouted.

Police have challenged a group of counter-protesters who attempted to charge at the breakaway gang of far-Right protesters. More riot police have arrived to try to separate the two sides.

The counter-demonstrators shouted “F*** the EDL”.

But in most towns such as Hackney, Bristol, Brentford, Birmingham and especially Walthamstow (to which I paid particualr interest) the SUTR, Socialist Worker, Antifa and Islamic groups all had a jolly rally, a chance to meet and mingle, show their strength and congratulate themselves that they saw off a ‘far-right’ who had no intention of turning up anyway.

One wonders if they generated the list to give themselves the opportunity to show their muscle; they certainly mobilised with speed if 36 hours was all the time they had.

Walthamstow has never stopped bragging about how they ‘stopped the EDL’ in 2013. They didn’t. The EDL obeyed the Home Office and attended a permitted static rally in Whitehall, one hour long. The Awesomestowites disobeyed the Home Office and marched through Walthamstow with police co-operation. I saw them do it. But I digress.

In Sheffield there was no anti-immigration protest. The Sheffield Star is spinning the evening as

Far-right cries off as 500 anti-fascist demonstrators block street

Five hundred anti-fascist protesters and scores of riot police – but zero far-right thugs.

Rumours of a potential attack on an immigration solicitors in Broomhall saw a huge group of counter demonstrators gather at the junction of Glossop Road, Northumberland Road and Clarkson Street.

But fears of a repeat of the unrest seen across the country … failed to materialise

But in Broomhall, the mood was buoyant. People gave speeches condemning the attacks and politicians for stirring hatred, interspersed with crowd chants.

One speaker said: “You’d have to be a pretty thick fascist to turn up here in front of hundreds of people.”

At one point a group of men, some with faces covered, sparked alarm among police who ran to head them off – triggering a surge in the crowd. But they proved to be supporters of the protest and the atmosphere calmed.

Interesting that these  video clips on X give a slightly different angle to the incident.

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