English Nationalists and Fascists to march in Leicester

Is This England? | 19.03.2009 23:13 | Analysis | Anti-racism | Social Struggles

On March 28th, English Nationalist have called a "National Demo" in Leicester. They hope to use the opportunity express their concerns about the city becoming "the first to have a minority of Indigenous English in the near future." This, they claim "is non other than ethnic clearing." Which is presumably similar to ethnic cleansing.

While the organisers are insistent that the "demo is not connected to any political party," it is prominently promoted on the websites of both the England First Party, a BNP-splinter group, and the openly-fascist National Front. Something which you might hope the organisers would be concerned about.

The "We Are The English" demonstration seems to be being organised largely through the internet, with the original national call-out being reposted on various sites. Presumably the reprinters are not all the same person, but the contact details remain the same and point interested parties in the direction of Mr Lee Ingram. A quick trawl of the internet reveals a surprising amount of information on Mr Ingram.

Ingram seems to be something of a petition junkie having initiated petitions about Hastings Day[1], immigration[2] and a proposed statue of Gandhi in Leicester[3]. The latter was part of a wider campaign, apparently initiated by Ingram, which received a fair amount of publicity, reaching far beyond the immediate environs of Leicester[4]. Ingram’s certainly not a stranger to controversy and appears to be the same person as the gentleman who in 2007 complained that he was prevented from taking photos at his child’s nativity performance[5].

Ingram’s politics are difficult to discern from his own incoherent ramblings[6], but it is apparent that he has and presumably is still involved with the English Democrats, a small political party with aspirations of being the English answer to the SNP. His membership seems to be confirmed by the picture of him, with other party activists campaigning in Monmouthshire, found on the English Democrats' website[7] and included above (he is standing second from the left).

Whether Ingram himself is a fascist or just a little Englander is an open question. When contacted about the protest he made much of his attempts to put of the British National Party, but seemed concerned as much with their Britishness as their fascist politics. Indeed he seems to have been silent about the support expressed by BNP splinter group the England First Party who have reprinted the call-out for the demonstration and statinng, “all EFP members and supporters who live in or near to Leicester should make every effort to attend. ” While it is noteworthy that the EFP does not list a Leicester contact, nor any in the East Midlands, but even their rheotrical support ought to be rejected by any decent, right-thinking person.

None of this should be a great surprise. The English Democrats have a less than encouraging history when it comes to the far-right, having flirted with the Third Way (which includes assorted ex-National Fronters and third positionists) and the Freedom Party (another BNP splinter group) and having entered fully-fledged discussions with the England First Party[8].

Fascism breeds when people stand by and let it grow. Doing nothing is bad enough. Marching alongside groups like England First is simply inexcusable.

Notes:
[1] "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Give England, 'Hastings Day' the 14th of October, as a Bank Holiday,"