The City Council promoted St George's Day march attracted hundreds of people to the streets of Nottingham today. For most, the parade was nothing more than a chance to get their England shirt on and have a beer in the sun. However, the local EDL were very prominent, near the front of the rally and marching under the largest banner on the march. Some of the local BNP branch also marched.

The Nottingham and Newark organisers of the EDL were there along with several others. They had brought along the massive Nottingham division banner, although they were obviously too embarassed to admit exactly who they were and had removed the text that said EDL. When the march arrived at Market Square, rather than stay for a celebration of traditional English culture they headed straight to Weatherspoons.
The BNP did hang around a bit longer, enjoying the opportunity to take romantic pictures of themselves with their St George's flag.
It is worrying that both groups were confident enough to publicly march through Nottingham today although we should take some comfort from the fact that they had to hide who they were. Nationalists have a history of using patriotic occasions to further their own agendas, to pick up supporters and build their movements. Despite both the BNP and EDL being in disarray nationally, it seems that their local supporters are ready and willing to get out on the streets.