Far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) is planning a demonstration in Slough early in the New Year. A website, aiming to expose and counter the EDL, says the group is planning four marches – in Slough, Cambridge, Manchester and Newcastle. The anonymous website founder claims the information was leaked to him by an EDL member.

News of the group's plans have been met with condemnation across the community. Mohammed Ayub, former president of the Pakistan Welfare Association and chaplain for Muslims at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, believes any extremist or racist group should be banned from having a public platform.

He said: "The EDL is based on hatred and the spreading of hate, Muslim-bashing and Asian-bashing. Any organisation with this kind of message is not an organisation as far as I'm concerned." He added: "There used to be terrible racial problems in Slough and because of tireless work and dialogue between all sides of the community, they no longer exist."

James Farmer, former chairman of the Manor Park Community Forum, wants the EDL banned from Slough and said: "Wherever they march, there is always trouble."

Wayne Strutton, Conservative deputy leader for Slough Borough Council, wants more power to stop groups like the EDL holding large demonstrations.

He said: "I'm disappointed that we're getting a extremist organisation march in Slough. However, we have to respect people's freedom of expression and I hope they make their protest peacefully. If they break the law, the police will arrest them."

He added: "I wish they weren't coming to Slough, but until we have more power to stop these people, we have to respect their rights."

Slough Observer, 11 December 2012

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Forty-two religious and secular organizations united on Thursday in condemning conservative lawmakers' allegations that Muslim-American individuals connected to the U.S. government may be trying to spread the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.

They directed their criticisms at Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), who recently wrote to various government agencies and asked them to investigate the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. In their letters, the lawmakers targeted top State Department official Huma Abedin and several advisers to the Department of Homeland Security.

"[W]e write to raise our voices in protest of your recent letters regarding prominent American Muslim individuals and organizations," the 42 organizations wrote in a letter to the lawmakers on Thursday. "These letters question the loyalty of faithful Americans based on nothing more than their religious affiliations and what is at best tenuous evidence of their associations. As such, your actions have serious implications for religious freedom and the health of our democracy."

The signatories include the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which often sides with Republicans on social issues, along with the Interfaith Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union, American Baptist Churches USA, NAACP and United Church of Christ.

Huffington Post, 26 July 2012

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