EDL muster 200 in Norwich while Infidels pull thirty in London.

Many have written off the EDL and it's true that they have fallen a long way from the peak of their strength in 2011. But with Tommy Robinson in jail and 53 of the hardcore bailed away from EDL activity across the country they're still pulling numbers that the National Front would have given their seig heiling arm for, just five years ago.

On the plus side – at least demos against the EDL are getting bigger and feistier. As 200 of the defence league marched through Norwich earlier today they were opposed by a crowd of around 1500. Scuffles followed and the EDL were plainly showed that they weren't welcome. Technically they were there to support an evangelical church who produced an anti-islam pamphlet (which is kind of what SchNEWS would expect from evangelical church) but as usual most EDL members weren't really up on the nuances.

Meanwhile the North West Infidels set out on an ill-advised trip to East London to try and stir up tension over a proposed mosque being built in the West Ham area. The borough is still covered by the thirty day march ban imposed after the EDLs failed effort to march in Walthamstow two weeks ago so in the event the Infidels settled for standing in a small pen near a building site unseen by anyone except a bored troupe of cops and a desultory walk-by of a handful of anti-fascists. SchNEWS spoke to one London anti-fascist “They couldn't even summon up the energy to chant, it was a dismal effort and they knew it”. Verdict – must try harder

According to the EDL facebook at least – it's looking unlikely that leader Tommy Robinson will be freed from remand until next year. So his supporters will be holding a demo outside Wandsworth prison on November 24th. No doubt anti-fascists will be there to confront them.

For more

http://antifascistnetwork.wordpress.com/

and a great analysis of where the EDL are (post Walthamstow) check out While Rome Burns blog

UPDATE: The EDL have been having an equally hard time online as well as on the streets. Their website has been down since Wednesday, following a hack by ZCompany Hacking Crew, who replaced the EDL's homepage with a star and crescent logo and the message "Fuck Zionist Jews! - Boycot Israel! - Fuck the American Government! - Fuck fascist Organisations like the EDL!"

Er, nice hack guys, shame about the slightly anti-semitic overtones