EDL to protest in Rotherham, again

The Star and Sheffield Telegraph report on the English Defence League’s plans to hold yet another protest in Rotherham and Leeds this weekend in the wake of the report into the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal.

The EDL announced a ‘split demo’ starting in Leeds and moving on to Rotherham on their Facebook page. Hundreds of EDL supporters are expected to take part in the march.

The far right group proclaims on its website that “It [child sex abuse] is not an ASIAN problem, this hints towards all asians [sic], where we know in fact predominantly the pakistani, muslim [sic] community carrying out these offences.”

In September, the police attempted to contain “sporadic outbreaks of disorder” during an earlier demonstration in the city organised by the anti-Muslim group.

The local papers further observe that business leaders have raised concerns about the ‘devastating’ impact of the repeat demonstrations upon businesses.  Business owners in Rotherham have launched a petition urging the government to develop new legislation that allows marches to be banned or moved on account of their negative economic and social impact.

The launch of the petition follows a series of demonstrations held by far right groups in Rotherham, including Britain First, who have attempted to capitalise on the publication of the Jay report to bolster their anti-Muslim ‘grooming’ campaigns.

The protests have also been heavily criticised for using the independent inquiry into the failures of the police, local council and child care services in Rotherham to incite anti-Muslim hatred, racism and intolerance as well as for the significant cost to police forces and council authorities in terms of policing the protests.