Bar staff's fears as right-wing protesters take over city pub

Published on Monday 22 February 2010 09:09

STAFF at a Royal Mile pub today said they asked right-wing protesters to stop hanging up flags because they did not want to be associated with their cause.

Around 50 members of the Scottish Defence League visited Jenny Ha's at the foot of the street on Saturday as they prepared for their city centre demonstration.

But police had to lock them in after anti-fascist groups tried to gain entry. SDL members hung up flags and banners, smoked and bought drinks as officers maintained the cordon outside. Staff were forced to ask them to stop.

One senior staff member told the Evening News: "It wasn't until the flags were up that we realised who they were. We asked them to take them down because we don't want to be associated with that, and they started smoking, but they stopped that when asked too.

"I don't know why they picked this pub. Maybe because it's closest to the Scottish Parliament, maybe because we only had one girl on at the start of the day and it was an easy target. Apart from that they weren't any bother, and the police sorted it out really well."

Thousands marched through the centre of Edinburgh as part of the anti-fascist protest, dwarfing those in the opposition group.

But fears of clashes between participants in the Scotland United march and the right-wingers proved unfounded as a heavy police presence kept the two apart.

There were five arrests relating to public order offences and only minor skirmishes.

Officers were drafted in from neighbouring forces, and as the main Scotland United rally began in Princes Street Gardens, police threw up a cordon several rows thick on the Royal Mile, where a breakaway group of anti-fascists had gathered. A helicopter buzzed overhead and nearby shopkeepers closed their doors.

At one point half a dozen men who appeared to belong to the pub group emerged from Panmure Close, next to the protesters, and the crowd surged towards them.

As tension rose, the men were hustled through the police line towards the pub to jeers from protesters, and photographed and searched by officers.

The Scotland United supporters left the rally in Princes Street Gardens after addresses from justice secretary Kenny MacAskill and city leader Jenny Dawe.

Led by police horses and flanked by officers, they marched up the Mound, via George IV Bridge to the Meadows. The parade paused outside the Central Mosque on Potterow for a minute's silence "in solidarity" with the Muslim community.

Organiser Aamer Anwar said: "The support today has been fantastic. Over 2,000 people marched through our city and the Defence League were stopped from marching anywhere in Edinburgh."