The national leader of the English Defence League yesterday warned that Saturday’s demonstration in Aylesbury could be the first of many after a bitter row erupted with police and council bosses.
Officers were hoping to keep EDL members on the outskirts of town before a rally in Market Square, to prevent skirmishes with counter demonstrators. But yesterday Tommy Robinson – not his real name – said EDL protestors are now planning to evade police and instead gather in Vale Park – where an anti-EDL demonstration is due to be held.
He said: “If our demonstration doesn’t go how we want it to go, we’ll come back in six weeks. No other place has tried to block us like this one has.”
The EDL fell foul of police and council chiefs after trying to put up a stage and use loudspeakers – which they need a licence for. At a tense meeting on Monday, they were also told that they were not allowed to carry wooden framed banners. Coachloads of EDL members would have been met by police and escorted to Market Square, where they would have been contained inside solid barriers.
Robinson said ominously: “We don’t think they’re doing well if they want it to go peacefully.”