48 held after fights at far right demo

Published on Saturday 10 October 2009 23:22

POLICE arrested 48 men during skirmishes between a far-right group and opponents in the northern English city of Manchester on Saturday.

Supporters of the English Defence League (EDL), a new group which stages street protests against what it terms "radical Islam", clashed with anti-racism campaigners from Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

Around 2,000 rival protesters congregated in the Piccadilly Gardens area of the city centre. The two groups were mainly kept apart by a line of police in riot helmets and anyone trying to break through the cordon was led away.

Most of those arrested were held on suspicion of public order offences, police said. One person suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.

Police eventually herded the English Defence League supporters out of the area and put them on double-decker buses to take them out of the city centre. Their rivals were forced away in the opposite direction.

"The police reaction has been necessary in order to prevent the few hell-bent on violent confrontation," Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said in a statement.

Police described many of those arrested as "agitators and trouble-makers".

The English Defence League sprang up this year after a small group from a local Muslim community staged a protest in the southern town of Luton against soldiers returning from Iraq.

The organisation denies it is racist and insists that it is a "multi-ethnic, multi-faith organisation".

The far right has made political progress this year, with the British National Party winning two seats in the European parliament.

Experts on community relations fear a rise in tensions between working class whites and immigrant communities could lead to further violence in the run-up to an election due by next June.

One of the demonstrators, James Carter, 23, from Chorlton, Manchester, said: "I'm down here to stop the Nazis. I think the turn-out on this side (UAF] symbolises the perception of Manchester and how we feel about racism."

One onlooker in the UAF camp muttered: "Can't they just send them to Australia?" as EDL supporters chanted: "We are the EDL."

A middle-aged woman chased after two EDL supporters who crossed to the UAF side, shouting: "F*** off, go home, you f***ing Nazis."

The woman was spoken to by police and the two men were removed.