Turn away the far right MfE

We are concerned that once again the far right group March for England (MfE) has chosen Brighton for its nationalist St Georges Day march on April 24th.
This organisation has close links to the English Defence League (EDL), another far right group, notorious for its violent demonstrations, and racist followers.

We call on Brighton pubs to refuse to host groups of the marchers. We believe the marchers should not be allowed to gather or march from Brighton Station.

MfE and the EDL
It was at a march initiated by MfE in Luton that the EDL was first formed, the chaos that ensued resulted on attacks on Asian shops, businesses and individuals.

Ever since there have been close links between MfE and the EDL, on February 5th this year the EDL organised a march in Luton, that it branded as “Back Where It All Began” and MfE travelled alongside EDL members to be there.

Last year when MfE marched in Brighton its leaders and members went to great lengths to invite members of the EDL along.

The MfE Leader, who posts online as Portsmouth Loyal, has passed on messages from the EDL and from ‘Tommy’ (Tommy Robinson ) the EDL leader on both the MfE forum and Facebook page.

MfE and Racism
MfE claims to want to defend the English way of life, however its Forum and Facebook page are full of attacks on immigrants and Muslims. Recently Portsmouth Loyal posted a link on the MfE forum to a news article about the possibility Egyptian people could flee trouble there and come to the UK, his comment on the story was; “Shut those bloody flood gates before we sink under the weight of everyone flooding here.”

We believe the far right nationalism of MfE and the EDL has no place in Brighton. Brighton is a multicultural community, where we celebrate and appreciate people’s differences.

What to do - pubs
MfE and EDL events are characterised by a drunken nature, with many hours spent drinking in pubs on the day of their marches, often aggravating the unpleasant acts and words of the groups’ racist followers.

Our pubs are an important feature of our city, they are where we meet, socialise and celebrate, free from abuse and trouble. For many visitors to our town the excellent service and friendly atmospshere of our pubs are one of Brighton’s greatest features.

For this reason we believe the MfE St Georges Day marchers would not be welcome in the city’s pubs by most Brighton residents. We call on landlords to refuse entry to groups of MfE supporters, and we expect the police to respect and support publicans in achieving this.

We support publicans who choose to refuse service to the far right - this petition is not intended as an attack on any venue unfortunate enough to be visited by this nasty organisation.

What to do – the station
Another feature of these far-right marches in Brighton has been the groups gathering on the forecourt of Brighton Station, meaning tourists to our town have to face chants and drunken unpleasantness, before these groups move on.

We believe it is in the interest of users of the railway, both visitors to Brighton and residents, that this group is not allowed to use railway property as a muster point. We hope the railway operators will ban the march from gathering on their property.