Bermondsey was yet again the scene of another march by the fascist NF today. A total of 62 boneheads and assorted nazis arrived at bermondsey south station for another pitiful parade parade around one of south londons most deprived areas. This was almost double the turnout of previous events though this was largely down to the fact that it was Hitler's birthday and the demo was advertised on the combat 18 website. There is no evidence that the NF are growing, recently they have suffered some serious internal problems.
Around 80 anti fascists in the form of the Anti Nazi League and Revolution turned up to oppose the demo and were unsurprisingly penned in by police for the duration of the event.
What did however shock people was the size and scale of the Police operation. 1 helicopter, nearly 500 officers, 4 camera teams and for what?
To allow 60 braindead nazis to break the law. Everything from their banners & leaflets to what they were chanting was technically speaking illegal under the race relations act. To add insult to injury this monumental waste of our taxes started several hours early. According to a Lib-dem councillor the police had started flooding the area and surrounding estates as early as 9.am (the demo started at 2.pm).
"It's not like they have any support round here" complained one local man. In fact less than ten people
turned up to cheer the NF on, considerably less than last time. Around ten school children also followed the march.
So the next time the police are moaning about how underfunded they are, its worth remembering that they are willing to spend tens of thousands protecting an illegal gathering of organised racists. Meanwhile streetcrime is running out of control in impoverished areas like Brixton and Hackney and nothing is being done about it. So much for the lessons learned from the Lawrence report.