The English Defence League is set to open a headquarters in Luton, says its leader, who has been released from jail.

Stephen Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, said the HQ would be at his tanning shop premises in Hastings Street.

"It will be like the Discover Islam centre but we will be telling the truth about Islam," he said. "I will be in there every day. It’s going to be a nightmare for the police because it’s going to get attacked."

Lennon said the headquarters would be run as a "charity", as he was unable to run a business because the police had had his bank accounts frozen.

The EDL leader has a tag to ensure he obeys a curfew order after spending 18 weeks in jail for entering the US on a false passport.

Luton Today, 6 March 2013

Here is an example of the sort of education about Islam that visitors to the new EDL HQ can expect to receive from Lennon:

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Members of Luton's Muslim community packed into the Crescent Hall in Bury Park on Saturday night for a meeting aimed at tackling Islamophobia.

Guest speakers included journalist Yvonne Ridley, and Cherie Booth's sister Lauren Booth, both converts to Islam. Also speaking was political commentator Mohammed Ansar, and Luton Borough Council leader Hazel Simmons.

Lauren Booth, who spoke on the topic of Women and Islam, told the audience: "I'm not sure we can call the reaction we get in Luton 'Islamophobia'. People here base their reactions on a lot of reading, they will be sure they have a full and rounded definition of what Islam is. People might be wishing to rescue you from something they genuinely believe is bad.

"As women we are like celebrities, we are the front page of Islam. We can see ourselves as 'Brand Islam'. We need to be bastions of the community and share the good values of Islam."

Mohammed Ansar warned that Luton, as in the days of football hooliganism, was being threatened by "dark shadows of intolerance and hatred". He said anti-Muslim discourse was increasingly being seen as legitimate, and said the country was in the middle of "a Muslim civil rights crisis".

But he accused Muslims of being their "own worst enemies", saying: "We have the best product but the worst salesmen." He continued: "It is not right to abuse troops, it is not right to deny children a proper education, it is not right to threaten homosexuals or others."

English Defence League leader Stephen Lennon was denied entry to the meeting by security staff. He said on Monday: "It was supposed to be a public meeting but it wasn't. All we hear is that we need to sit down and talk but no-one wants to talk to us."

Luton Today, 3 July 2012

The leader of a gang of violent anti-Muslim racists is denied entrance to a Muslim meeting. It's inexplicable.

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In an update on last week's protest by Luton's Sikh community, the Turban Campaign has reproduced an account by Peter Adams from St Mary's Church in Luton. As they point out: "The account confirms the opportunistic actions of the EDL leadership and the very public disapproval by the local Sikh leadership as previously reported."

Adams was at Luton Magistrates' Court the day after the main protest and reports:

"Soon after 10.30 when I arrived it was confirmed that the Muslim lad had been charged and hearing would be in the afternoon. Kevin Carrol turned up soon after and not long afterwards community leader Jaswinder Singh Nagra. He told Carrol EDL were not welcome. When asked who had invited him to be there he could name no names. He withdrew and called Lennon. He hung around and then left."

Which possibly explains why this EDL appeal was followed shortly after by this one.

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EDL leader Kevin Carroll pretends to be an ally of the Sikh community at last night's protest – and (right) an EDL demonstrator shows the membership's real attitude to SikhsA Sikh elder today shared his concern at attempts by the English Defence League to hijack a protest by the Luton Sikh community. The protest outside Luton Police Station last night was in response feelings of a lack of action by the police force.

Catrin Nye, a BBC journalist reported:

The Sikh protesters shut down the dual carriageway through the centre of Luton, they sat down on the road and chanted surrounded by a large police presence. Their reason they said was the police haven’t dealt properly with the alleged sexual assault on a young Sikh girl in the town.

In the early hours of the morning the remaining protesters gathered at Guru Nanak Gurdwara just minutes from the protest site. Members of the English Defence League joined the protest. They claimed they were going to turn it into a national event but that didn’t happen.

She went on to confirm that the EDL had not been invited as had initially been claimed.

My name is Jaswinder Singh Nagra, I'm one of the community elders. I personally did not welcome their (English Defence League) presence. Obviously they wanted to make hay of this because it's their town. Some of the young boys were very angry and welcomed them but I'm not happy. Our values do not match.

Responding to whether support for the EDL by young vulnerable Sikhs concerned him, Jaswinder Nagra replied:

Yes it does because they're very exploitive and we don't want our youth following their propaganda.

Turban Campaign, 30 May 2012

See also EDL News, 30 May 2012

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Protests by the English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in Luton have ended without major incident amid a huge police presence.

About 1,500 EDL supporters and 1,000 UAF protesters were involved in the protests. There were seven arrests. Officers said the arrests were for weapons offences and assault.

Both groups took part in a one-mile (1.6km) march earlier. The EDL supporters marched from High Town Road to St Georges Square, while the UAF group marched between Bury Park Road and Market Hill. Speeches were given in both squares, which are about half a mile apart, from about 1345 GMT.

Before the protest began, 150 UAF demonstrators linked hands at the railway station to prevent EDL supporters entering the town. The EDL group chanted "Muslim bombers off our streets" and held banners aloft, some of which read "No more mosques".

Speaking at the UAF counter-rally, Labour MEP Richard Howitt said: "The message to the EDL is clear: This is not your home, you are not welcome here."

BBC News, 5 May 2012

See also Luton & Dunstable Express, 5 May 2012

Update:  See also Malatesta's report at Libcom.org, 6 May 2012

The British Freedom Party has announced the already leaked news that EDL leaders Stephen Lennon and Kevin Carroll have accepted positions in the BFP (though the planned press conference was cancelled). They will share the role of Vice Chairman. The BFP declares that this is a "historic development" which "establishes British Freedom as a new force in British politics".

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Where could Breivik possibly have got his deluded ideas about Luton from?Luton residents have hit back at slurs on their town by mass killer Anders Breivik, dismissing him as a "nutter".

Addressing the Norwegian court where he is on trial for the massacre of 77 people, Breivik reportedly described "war-like conditions" in the multicultural Bedfordshire town and referred to so-called "Islamic no-go zones". He is also said to have claimed that Muslims want sharia law in "places like Luton".

Local figures lined up to pour scorn on his allegations. David Jonathan, a co-ordinator at Luton Council of Faiths, said the reality was "quite different" to what Breivik implied.

"Luton is a welcoming place," he said. "I know many people who have come to Luton and chosen to make it their home. Those who choose to remain on the peripheries will always have this sense of fear of no-go areas. We're not saying there are no problems – there are problems of segregation and lack of interaction – but people aren't trying to impose sharia law."

Local councillors also dismissed Breivik's rant. Liberal Democrat Jenny Davies described it as "a piece of nonsense", saying:

"He's clearly never been here, or if he has I don't know where he's been. I can only think that he's picked up on stuff that's been said about Luton and decided the town's a wasteland, which it isn't. There are plenty of things in this town I could criticise but none of them have anything to do with the fact that we're a multicultural community. I really do wish these nutters would stop picking on Luton and talking about it in this way because that's not the way it is."

Labour councillor Mahmood Hussain denied the town had any problems regarding race or religion. He said: "I would challenge anyone anywhere in the world to go into every single part of Luton and tell me where these no-go areas are. I represent a very mixed community, which has Irish, eastern European, black, Hindu and Muslim residents, and I've lived here since 1969 and there's never been any part of Luton that's been a no-go area."

Press Association, 18 April 2012

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Placards at EDL demonstration in Luton in February 2011Anti-fascist activists, Muslim groups, trade unionists and local councillors in Luton are banding together to see off the threat from the racist English Defence League (EDL).

The EDL is threatening to march through Luton town centre on Saturday 5 May. They have targeted the town several times in the past, notably in February last year.

But the groups behind the "We Are Luton" statement have vowed to oppose the EDL and mount a march to St George's Square. That's the place where the EDL assembled last time, with police help.

"The EDL is a racist group dedicated to promoting hatred and intolerance in society," the statement reads. "Islamophobia – bigotry against Muslims – is as unacceptable as any other form of racism."

Signatories include local MP Kelvin Hopkins, Luton Council of Mosques, several local youth organisations and community projects, Luton TUC and a host of local trade union branches.

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is backing the anti-EDL protest and calling on its supporters nationally to get down to Luton on 5 May.

Vince Charles is an activist in the Unison trade union and chair of Luton UAF. "People are shocked to see the EDL wants to come back to town," he told Socialist Worker, in a personal capacity. "The Muslim community in particular has had enough."

This anger has sparked a "broad-based" alliance against the EDL, he added. "Luton TUC has played a prominent role alongside UAF and Muslim community groups."

Socialist Worker, 10 April 2012

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