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| Britain |
| Police braced for rival marches in Newcastle |
| 2010-05-29 |
| Around 1,000 members of the English Defence League (EDL) will face 1,300 followers of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) when two rival marches come to an end. A major police operation has been planned for weeks in Newcastle to prevent serious disorder between the far right group and its opponents. The EDL claimed not to be racist and said it was set up last year to oppose militant Islam. But it has a hardcore following among known football hooligans who, its opponents state, have overtly racist views. The Despite violence between the two groups elsewhere in the past - including Stoke, Bolton and Dudley - Chief Supt Graham Smith expected city life to continue as normal. Northumbria Police would not disclose how many officers will be on the streets, but said it had received back-up from five forces. Officers from the Metropolitan Police and Northern Ireland were among hundreds already on patrol ahead of the marches on Saturday afternoon. The EDL, estimated to bring 1,000 supporters, will start at one end of the city and finish at the Bigg Market. Around 100m away police expect 1,300 members of the UAF to gather in Newgate. The UAF have requested to have "line of sight" of the EDL, Mr Smith said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #2 This is England, not Ireland. But the second sentence is still accurate. We think of the English as passive and biddable, and that just isn't so. I recall a comment from medieval Europe, when English mercenaries ran amok in a captured town for three days..."truly the English glory in slaughter". |
| Posted by: Grunter 2010-05-29 15:38 |
| #1 I suspect things are starting to heat up again in northern Ireland. There are just too many people who want to fight each other. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-29 08:53 |