You may recall that Britain First, a far-right groupuscule headed by former BNPers Jim Dowson and Paul Golding, organised a unity meeting in Dartford last month to discuss plans for a new anti-Islam street protest movement to replace the declining and fragmenting English Defence League.
The protest movement has now been formally launched. It’s called the English National Resistance and describes itself as a “new disciplined organisation that will mobilise patriotic activists against any attack on our English culture, rights and heritage”.
As is the way with such things, the English National Resistance presents itself as a far-right unity initiative, claiming to have brought together “a multitude of different existing patriotic groups”. So far, however, it would appear to be little more than a Britain First front organisation.
The ENR’s first event is scheduled for tomorrow, 2 February, with a planned march through Stanmore to the house of Abu Qatada. Whether it will in fact take place is as yet unclear, as Qatada’s lawyers have applied to the High Court for an injunction to prevent the demonstration going ahead.
Given that the protest is likely to attract a derisory number of participants, the BF/ENR leaders are probably hoping that the injunction is granted. That way they can milk the situation for the maximum publicity – High Court sides with Muslim terrorist and deprives decent British patriots of right to free speech, you know the sort of thing – while avoiding the public exposure of the minuscule forces they actually represent.
Update: The court has granted Abu Qatada and his family a temporary injunction against the English National Resistance, Britain First, English Defence League, South East Alliance, English Democrats and March for England. The relevant section of the judgement reads:
Until the conclusion of a hearing which shall be listed on the first available date after 15 February 2013 each Defendant must not:
(a) use, publish or communicate or disclose to any other person (other than by way of disclosure to legal advisers instructed in relation to these proceedings (the “Defendant’s legal advisers”) for the purpose of obtaining legal advice in relation to these proceedings, or for the purpose of carrying this Order into effect):
(i) the name of any of the Claimants
(ii) any image of any of the Claimants
(iii) the residential address of the Claimants set out in Confidential Schedule to this Order
(iv) the address of any school attended by any of the Claimants(b) pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of any of the Claimants contrary to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and in particular must not do any of the following or procure, incite, abet or encourage any other person to do any of the following:
(i) communicate with and/or contact and/or attempt to communicate with and/or contact and/or attempt to contact any of the Claimants.
(ii) follow or purport to or threaten to follow any of the Claimants or claim or intimate having done so;
(iii) approach any of the Claimants in any public or private place or threaten to do so.
(iv) use, publish or communicate or disclose or allow to be continued to be used, published, communicated or disclosed (including for the avoidance of doubt the continued publication on any website or social media in the control of the Defendant) any of the matters set out at 8(a)(i)-(iv) above.
(iv) approach within 500 metres of the Claimants’ residential address set out in the Confidential Schedule.