The following YouTube videos are silent documentaries. This means that they have no narration, (but still have all the background sound), as my main objective is to represent the event that happened in Nottingham, not tinge the footage with my own personal political views.
The following silent documentaries were recorded in Nottingham when the English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Facism (UAF) groups both held protests in the city centre. A large Police presence was required to keep the two groups apart.
The EDL gathered at the The Company Inn, a pub next door to the Nottingham Evening Post Builiding. When they started to move from the pub just after 2pm, the Police herded the EDL along Castle Road. The road had been sealed off with Police barricades to form a ‘kettle’ for holding the EDL. The EDL were trapped inside and nobody could see what was going on. You could only hear the shouting.
The UAF were waiting inside a Police kettle along Friar Lane. They were eventually escorted down to the city plaza next to Beast Market Hill. Here the UAF were moved into the middle of the plaza with a line of Policemen preventing them from getting back onto Beast Market Hill.
As members of the EDL were released from their kettle, many were escorted back to the railway station and onto trains to make their way home. There were some which escaped from the supervision of the Police and tried to make their way down to the plaza where the UAF were waiting. The alleyways around the plaza were full of Police pretending to be cats and EDL members pretending to be mice.
Along with the EDL – which the significant majority of which consisted mainly of shaven-headed men either 18-22 or 35 – 45 years old, and the UAF which consisted of either 16 – 20 year old homely looking lads or women from 18 – 100 years old, there was a third and significantly smaller group. This third group consisted of 14 – 24 year old Asian lads. They weren’t interested in driving their fustration towards the EDL or UAF, but towards the Police. When I asked one of the lads what he was here for, he replied ‘It’s the Police. They are racist against us ent they.’
The EDL were physically aggressive with the Police because the EDL would want to move in a certain direction – which was a near to the UAF as possible. When the two groups got close, and from the encounters that I observed, it would be UAF members that would be the angrier entities. It was clear that the main objective of the EDL was to infuriate the UAF, and let some of the members of the UAF make fools of themselves. I saw several EDL members just standing and staring at a UAF member while the UAF member screamed and shouted and pointed.
Not many protestors were left by about 5pm and the remainder of the EDL still left in Nottingham gathered at The Thurland Hall pub along Thurland Street. They continued to drink the evening away with a Police line encircling the pub.
The following item is a collection of photos taken at the event:
Do the EDL have support from 55% of the general population? If they do, then lets get ready for a change of government very soon! The significant majority of videos hosted on YouTube that are related to the EDL or BNP are either for or against the right-wing groups. This is made clear in either the title or descriptions for the videos. The comments section for each of these videos are also usually disabled – as they would otherwise attract derogatory comments.
People would either be posting comments against videos that support the EDL or BNP, or members of these groups would be attacking video owners that dared speak against them.
In the 36 hours that the 2 videos (not including the photo album) listed below have been on YouTube, they have attracted comments in triple figures. But as I intentionally presented the videos in a neutral manner without including my own narration / political view, this has encouraged people from all areas to express themselves.
Counting individuals who have commented (and not the number of comments), 15% of those that commented do not seem bothered about the video content – one gentleman complained ‘ I was there, f******g madness. I only went to town to get some Cod. lmao.’ (does this guy actually mean fish – or am I missing something here?). 30% of people that commented were against the EDL and their beliefs, while 55% of people that left comments supported the EDL.
These figures exclude the death threats and completely unconstructive comments full of abuse. I have, with regret (I believe in freedom of speech – no matter what your political beliefs are) deleted the 0.5% of comments which fell into this category.
In October, Nick Griffin – the leader of the BNP made an appearance on the BBC’s flagship political programme – Question Time. There were protests against his appearance, with some saying that the BBC should not support the BNP. I don’t believe the BBC was supporting the BNP. I believe the BBC were suggesting that Nick Griffin (and hence the BNP) are idiots.
I’ve given publicity to the EDF because I believe in the freedom of speech and I also believe that people need the information to be able to make up their own minds about this group.
Both the BNP and EDL are concerned with protecting a ‘British way of life’ through the expulsion of non-British people from this country. Personally i believe on a human rights level, it is wrong to discriminate based on the colour of someone’s skin, the language that they talk or the religous beliefs that they hold. It dosen’t matter if some people that live in the UK don’t appear to be British – they are still people.
It is childish to be scared of something that is different to you. We can all learn and grow from sharing our differences, our experiences, our beliefs.
On an economic level, especially in a recession, it is understandable that some may be concerned that immigrants may be taking jobs when there aren’t enough jobs to go around. Let’s just hope that if England ever hits a real economic crisis, other countries would be understanding if English people need to move abroad to find employment to stop themselves from starving.
Thanks for posting. Good points you make in the final paragraph. One day WE may find ourselves seeking refuge (political or economic) in a different country.
My opinion (for what it’s worth) is that these hateful groups should be denied the oxygen of publicity, but on the other hand, every time they have been given publicity they have managed to show themselves as the ignorant fools they really are.