Thousands turn out against EDL in Cambridge. Part 2
Cameraboy | 12.07.2011 19:56 | Culture | Social Struggles | Cambridge
F.I.T. Watched. Unlike them though, I publish what I shoot.
The Mill Road end of Gwydir Street, by the now a vast throng of marchers.
White Placard: "How many racists does it take to change a lightbulb?"
Heading up Mill Road, past the Amnesty Book Shop.
Going past Sally Ann's, Covent Garden.
EDL being given the red light!
Final destination, Petersfield Common.
Richard Rose of ANL giving a speech.
Hugs not thugs!
Getting ready for the evening..?
Did I mention all the bins were sealed..?
A brief disturbance near Mill Lane, as police randomly block off a side passage.
Silver Street, with bemused tourists looking on.
My first glimpse of the EDL rally on Queen's Green, behind Queens College.
Mixed messages..?
The EDL rally, on Queen's Green.
Flags co-opted for the cause.
We have you surrounded, EDL!
Really???
A minor EDL disturbance on the way back, outside The Regal.
At one point I even spotted one of them taking a picture of me taking pictures!
Needless to say I returned the 'favour', and you can see the guilty party here, replete with serial number - F.I.T. watch indeed!
After the counter demo had finished, I managed to find out where the EDL were being kept by the police, which was on Queens Green, behind Queens College, in the Newnham area of town.
Myself and a few other people decided to literally sit in on this event (there were as many cops as EDL), mostly to find out exactly who these people are.
It turns out that the vast majority of them appear to be white working class males, with a very small presence of women, and despite press releases and interviews to the contrary, I didn't see that many people of colour in attendance, save for a few curious passersby who stood at the edge of the grass and looked on at the spectacle before them.
The EDL demo couldn't have been bigger than a couple of hundred in number, effectively dwarfed by the counter demo, and as I said earlier, most of them seem to have travelled in for the day, with perhaps a tiny handfull of local people attending, who I suspect had probably turned up more out of curiosity to see what all the fuss was about.
Police escorted EDL members back to Cambridge (railway) Station, although on the way there was a brief scuffle between some asian youths and a handful of EDL, but this was soon shut down by the police.
The police also made sure there were no EDL punters for The Regal (see picture), promptly blocking off the road and making sure they didn't stop there.
This is in light of a press announcement the week before by the Wetherspoons pub that they had refused an advance order for 1,000 meals from the EDL.
I don't know when (or if) this proposed Mosque is to be built, but doubtless we haven't heard the last of the EDL, even though they garnered little support from the people of Cambridge, with almost universal condemnation of their visit in the local press.
But there was still a couple of hundred people at the EDL demo, so there is no room for complacency.
Cameraboy
Comments
Display the following 8 comments