On the 5th of March 2010 the English Defence League went to London to march in support of Geert Wilders and the right to freedom of speech and expression. Here is a brief itinerary of how the demonstration panned out during the course of the day.....

EDL media set out early to cover the demonstration. They arrived in London to meet with various news reporters and agencies, as the march had generated much national and international interest.

The scene was set, beautiful sunshine and landmarks all around. The meet point for the march was at the Tate Britain, police lined cordons and access points from there all the way up to the houses of parliament.

By 1pm members are starting to arrive. These include Portsmouth and Sunderland divisions with more on route. EDL members were in good voice and looking forward to our landmark demo.

At half past 1 East Midlands and Yorkshire Divisions arrive safe in London, and the EDL Angels are in high spirits and good voice as usual.

As more and more EDL divisions arrive the congregation increases: EDL members can be heard far and wide, they are making sure their message is loud and proud.

Shortly after 2 o’clock Gurjamit Singh and Alan Lake made speeches just outside of the beautiful Tate building calling for solidarity with Geert Wilders' cause and highlighting the need to understand the threat posed by Islamists and their supporters / sympathisers.

By around half past 2 the march started off in earnest. Everyone is looking forward to arriving at the houses of parliament, the focus for our call for real freedom of speech.

On our way we were confronted by UAF antagonists who were shouting the usual obscenities to provoke EDL members. EDL stewards did a fine job of keeping members focused on our mission and helping to ensure that no one rose to the baiting from the UAF. UAF chants of “Nazi scum off our streets” were met with mockery and satire.

As we got closer to the houses of parliament we passed a large contingent of UAF who were very aggressive and threatening.

As we arrived at the houses of parliament another contingent of anarchists waving communist flags were situated on the opposite side of the road. Again the baiting continue, but EDL members conducted themselves with restraint and drowned out the rubbish coming from that side of the fence. At one point a UAF member broke through their lines and got round to the EDL. This was a deliberate provocation that was met with jeers of “traitor” as would be expected from any patriotic citizen. One EDL member did respond in kind and managed to unfold a George Cross right in the middle of the Communists, which was met with rapture and applause from EDL members. It would seem the UAF don’t like a taste of their own medicine!

More chants of “Nazi scum off our streets” were met with ridicule as our mixed race and black members got to the front lines to ask the anarchists if they thought they were Nazis too! That was another own goal from the UAF contingent. In an act of desperation a Muslim man wearing Islamic garb sporting a large beard walked up to the EDL lines hoping to get a rise from EDL members. This did not happen, consequently it did not feed into the UAF propaganda mission and left their members frustrated and angry. So angry in fact that out of 50 arrests made on that day only 2 were actually EDL members for “breach of the peace”. The rest were from the Unite Against Fascism anarchistic, communist movement.

One of the most heartening aspects of the March was the visible mix of people from all walks of life, race and sexuality present on our side of the fence, all of whom will face the wrath of Sharia if it is implemented further in this country. We had Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Homosexuals, people from various racial backgrounds and more, all united for the same cause:  the defence of England against the wave of Islamo-Fascists sweeping the country untouched by the Government. Well, we demand that the Government take note: we are far more organised than ever, and we are going nowhere until you deal with the barbaric laws and traditions embedded deep within Islam. They are not welcome here. They are not compatible with our way of life. We will never stop pushing these issues wherever and whenever we see fit.

After the demonstration EDL members were given leave and left the area peacefully without any trouble, probably due to the fact that many UAF antagonists were arrested and detained.

This only goes to show just how well organised the EDL have become. As a young movement we still have much to learn and improve on, but the 5th of March was a day of reckoning, a day of celebration, a day of victory for the right to freedom of speech and expression.

The EDL will never surrender, we will never submit, we will never be silenced. Our fight continues and our thanks go out to all our national and international supporters, and of course our members who are the heart, soul and backbone of this grass roots social movement.

Report compiled by Mike Hughes (Copy Editor)

Thanks to all who were involved in the planning and execution of an extremely successful event.

With special thanks to the London Metropolitan police, police liaison Tony Williams and Leon (chief steward)

Steve Simmons (Head of Media)

EDL Media Service

Thanks to one and all.

Freedom Fights Back