Banning order request of far right rally in Bradford follows 10,000-name petitionPolice chiefs have called on the home secretary, Theresa May to ban a march by the far right English Defence League (EDL) due to take place in Bradford later this month.
Bettison said: "Having carefully considered the issues arising from any planned or unplanned march by protesters in Bradford, I have decided to apply to Bradford council for an order prohibiting the holding of a public procession on that day."
The move follows a campaign that saw more than 10,000 people in Bradford sign a petition, while community, religious and anti-racist groups joined local politicians in calling for the march to be banned.
Paul Meszaros, who co-ordinated the Bradford Together initiative, said: "It is nice that the people of Bradford have been listened to.
It is a victory for the campaign that saw thousands of Bradfordians come together and say clearly that we do not want these people coming to cause divisions and violence."
The council is expected to make a formal application to May who will decide whether to grant a ban.
However, police say that even if May agrees, there are no powers to prevent the EDL holding a "static demonstration", as they have done in other towns over the past year. Bettison said: "If the home secretary agrees to a ban, it does not prevent static, visible demonstrations taking place. But I believe that this would be less disruptive to residents of Bradford and would enable the force to better manage the operation."
Tonight a spokesman for the EDL said that although it may have to "modify its plans slightly" its demonstration on 28 August would "most definitely still go ahead".
Nick Lowles from Hope not Hate, which organised the anti-EDL campaign along with Bradford council, said the police decision was a victory for "people power". He added that a ban would stop the EDL marching through predominantly Asian areas of the city.
"While the EDL threat hasn't completely gone away our campaign has contributed to the racists being kept away from Muslim communities in Bradford," said Lowles. "This is a victory for the people of city and especially the 10,700 who signed our petition."
The EDL started in Luton last year and has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s. It claims to be a peaceful, non-racist organisation opposed only to "militant Islam". But many of its demonstrations have ended in confrontations with the police after some supporters became involved in violence, as well as racist and Islamophobic chanting. In May, the Guardian revealed that the EDL was planning to step up its Islamophobic street campaign targeting Bradford and Tower Hamlets in London
The Guardian
