There was some good news today when the collection of skinheads and football hooligans laughingly known as the English Defense League (EDL) failed to draw the full support of their ‘league’ for their provocative Bradford demo.

The EDL - definitely not fascists, honest!

Despite hailing Bradford as ‘the big one’ only 700 EDL supporters turned up compared to 900 at last year’s Leeds demo. Feeling a little frustrated by this the ‘non-violent’ and ‘compliant’ EDL began to throw bottles, rocks and smoke bombs at the police and anti-fascist demonstrators. What’s that old saying about leopards and spots?

We should never feel complacent about the right wing and we should remain ever vigilant against fascism. But it is heartwarming to see such a drop in numbers when the group has only just celebrated its first birthday. For all their posturing it looks like the EDL have failed to find any support whatsoever amongst the everyday English people who they claim to represent.

So was the day a success in terms of opposing the EDL? To my eye it was, and to a large extent due to the failure to rise to the extreme provocation and baiting being aimed at the local residents. Instead of the old tactic of shouting ‘Nazi’ at the EDL (something which surely even the most hard nosed EDL supporter can now not deny given the chanting that was going on) and ineffective speeches-cum-paper-selling tactics of the UAF, action was planned and executed by the local population and a unified, defiant but peaceful show of strength was made. The EDL was shown in their true colours, they didn’t spark the race riot they so badly wanted and came off extremely badly in the eyes of the mainstream press whos attention they have been courting for some time now. Their claims to support the police will now ring pretty hollow and it will be hard for them to regroup and continue to recruit new members after this PR disaster.

And the city of Bradford? Still standing, still united and its residents still proud to be a part of one of the most multicultural communities in Britain.