Bullock opposes EDL London march

Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock is among the London politicians to have called for a planned march through Tower Hamlets by the English Defence League on September 3rd to be prevented from happening by the police.

In a letter published in the Guardian, they say:

We – representing communities across London – are calling on the acting commissioner of the Met to recognise that the planned march of the English Defence League in Tower Hamlets on 3 September is a drain on resources that London cannot now afford. While we have no doubt that the Met could contain this demonstration, the cost of policing it (up to £500,000 for previous EDL marches) would simply be too great. That's even before the cost of policing the heightened community tension that the EDL aims to leave in its wake.

Liberal Conspiracy criticises the argument that cost should be the determining factor and makes a very persuasive case for the march to be allowed:

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...

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?