by Sunny Hundal

Various Labour councillors and two MPs have signed a letter in the Guardian today, saying the proposed march by the English Defence League in Tower Hamlets should be banned on the basis that it is “a drain on resources that London cannot now afford”.

This is perhaps the worst reason to call for the banning of any march. It sets a precedent for the police to refuse marches or demonstrations in the future simply on the basis of cost. Is that what we want?



I’ve been arguing with various people on Twitter on why I don’t think the EDL march in Tower Hamlets should be banned at all.

I realise how nasty the English Defence LEague are; I also accept that violence breaks out at most EDL rallies (though the big one I went to in Luton was peaceful).

But here are my three key points. First: every time an EDL rally descends into them fighting against the police, they lose supporters and get incredibly bad press. So, let the police deal with it.

Secondly, I don’t think far-right racism and violence should be swept under the carpet. Let’s have it out in the open. Let ordinary people see that racist thugs still do exist in Britain. Banning these people rather than shining a light on them simply allows society to pretend that racism doesn’t exist. Exposing them also shows how similar their narratives are to mainstream commentators.

The third point is key. Civil liberties aren’t important just as a matter of principle – they ethnic impact minorities a lot. Remember how people forgot about them post 9/11?

In which other western democracy can you imagine a modern police force calling for citizens to report anarchists? The UK may be the home of democracy but we have a terrible cultural attitude to civil liberties. Our rights are not codified and constantly restricted; people keep calling for ‘extremists’ to be banned (mostly Muslims) without any regard for free speech or association.

I would like to see people care deeply about civil liberties and protecting the right to free speech and association, even for extremists. Especially since governments are in the habit of branding marginalised and powerless groups as ‘extremists’.

These calls for a ban will come back and bite us, without a shadow of doubt.