I disagree.
I've read back through a few of the threads by the EDL, none of them have been rude, even in the face of alot of hositility, none of them have breached any of the terms of agreement at this forum, why should they sod off?
I think all people have a right to protest, I think it's a fucking joke that some muslim protestors can stand around with placards threatening death to the people of this country who are not muslims, but an EDL protest is shut down, and the leaders arrested rapidly. How long did it take the police to make any arrests after the danish embassy protests by the muslims protestors? infact did they ever get round to it?
It's the hypocrisy that is pissing me off more than anything.
No, you just hinted they should all sod off and gave a link to somewhere else. Calling my pointing out to you that people don't have to sod off unless they break the rules a red herring doesn't change that fact.
Maybe I'm naive then, I see it the other way round, behind the screwed up misguided coating, I see a bunch of genuine folks with genuine worries who are really bad at expressing those worries in a constructive way, ergo my preference to maintain dialogue rather than send them over to FFI for more confusion. Mixed into that a good few real nasty individuals trying to ride their coat tails to achieve more sinister results and you have a confusing bag of pick'n'mix.
Support them how?
You mean support everyones right to protest freely in their own country? yeah, I guess I do support that.
+1 While I agree with billy and IsLame that the EDL is a dangerous right-wing organization, that doesn't mean all its members are, and the ones who have been posting here have been polite and open to dialogue. Telling them to sod off to FFI, where they will find more people to reinforce or exacerbate extremist views is the wrong tack to take, I think. As long as they are polite and open to dialogue, isn't it better to engage them here? Who knows-- they might eventually be convinced that the EDL is causing more harm than good and maybe they should join or start a new organization with similar goals.
Furthermore, even if these dudes were waving swastika flags, I'd still support their right to protest. I'd also support some antifa showing up and beating the shit out of them, but I don't see how this raid by the government is justified, unless they are organizing themselves as a paramilitary unit (which maybe they are, I dunno). The right-wing must be fought by the working-class, not the state, which has an interest in using any pretext to discourage political dissent and expand its size and powers over all of us. A government that has the power to silence people based on political content is a very dangerous thing, even if we hold those they are attempting to silence in utter contempt.
Topic: The proof of Labours police state.