Scottish Defence League

The Scottish Defence League (SDL) is an offshoot of the English Defence League and was created in late 2009. The Times describe the group as a "far right organisation affiliated to the English Defence League (EDL)". The group carried out a demonstration in Glasgow on the 14-November-2008 and according to their Facebook group are planning a further protest in Edinburgh on 20-February-2010.

Demonstrations

Glasgow demonstration

The SDL held their first demonstration in Glasgow on 14-November-2009. The group claimed they were protesting against the "Islamification" of Scotland. According to a report in the Scotland on Sunday:

80 people briefly unfurled banners calling for the banning of the burqa, sang Rule Britannia and shouted "SDL" to shouts of "scum" and boos from shoppers.

The BBC reported:

Police said about 80 SDL protesters gathered in Cambridge Street, north of the city centre, and there were clashes. The SDL protesters, some with their faces partly covered with scarves, sang songs and chanted "SDL" as they held their demonstration.

The Sunday Mail described how:

The drunken mob left the Cambridge bar on Cambridge Street and moved to the city centre at noon where they were confronted by around 30 anti-fascist protesters shouting, "Nazi scum off our streets".

There were five arrests connected to the demonstration, four for alleged breach of the peace and a fifth for racially motivated breach of the peace. Assistant chief constable Fiona Taylor said the demonstration involving about 70 people against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism had passed off "without any major incident".

A counter demonstration staged by Scotland United took place on the same day, police estimated that 1,500 people attended the anti-fascism demonstrations with organisers putting the figure at 3,500. The Scotland United demonstration was described in The Sunday Times:

Meanwhile, members of Scotland United gathered at Glasgow Green and marched to George Square, where they held a counter-demonstration backed by trade unions, politicians and faith groups.

The demonstration included speeches by Nicola Sturgeon, Osama Saeed, Mohammed Sarwar, Aamer Anwar, Annabel Goldie, and Tommy Sheridan.

Edinburgh Demo Event

Edinburgh Demonstration

Three days after the SDL's Glasgow demonstration plans were announced by the SDL to have a further gathering in Edinburgh. Details were published on the groups Facebook page in early December giving the date of the 20-February-2009 for the protest.

BNP Connections

SDL Administrators

John Wilkinson Leafleting for the BNP

One of the administrators of the SDL Facebook group is John Wilkinson who lists his political views on the site as BNP. Wilkinson can be seen on the site leafleting for the BNP in the 2009 European Elections.

The BNP's Adam Lloyd is a member

Members of the SDL Facebook group include Adam Lloyd who is the BNP organiser for Bridgend in Wales.

The BNP have publicly denied any connection with the English Defence League and issued a press release distancing themselves from the EDL and the "confrontations they seek".

Web Presence

SDL on Facebook

The SDL has a group on Facebook used to recruit new members and organise demonstrations. Administrators for the group are Chris Anderson, Karen Chesser from Aberdeen and John Wilkinson from Dumfries.

The SDL Facebook group where 197 of the 420 members have their location displayed. Of these 197 members less than half are based in Scotland:

Location	Number of Members
Scotland	83
England	79
USA	10
Wales	9
Australia	5
Canada	2
Israel	1
Northern Ireland	1
Spain	1
Serbia	1
China	1

UK Casuals United website

Unlike the English Defence League, the SDL don't have a dedicated website. Their web presence consists of a Facebook group and a page on the UK Casuals United website. The "UK Casuals United" website hosts pages on the other "Defence Leagues" which are the English Defence League, Welsh Defence League and the Ulster Defence League. The groups website is registered in the U.S. at webs.com. The group describe themselves as:

an alliance of British Football Casuals of various different colours/races who have come together in order to create a massive, but peaceful protest group to force our Government to get their act in gear.

The tagline on the groups website reads, "Uniting the UK's football infidels", and they make claims to be opposing Islamic Extremism and stopping Muslims who "wish to impose Sharia law upon us by stealth".

The writing style used on the website is often incoherent, for example this passage comes from the section explaining who the group are:

We will exercise our right to peaceful protest however we see fit, and are growing all the time. Soon we will be big enough to influence our MP's and they will be unable to ignore us. We will support the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Defence Leagues, as well as March for England, with marches/demos but are A TOTALLY SEPERATE GROUP.

This incoherent style is repeated in an announcement about the groups Glasgow demonstration of the 14-November-2009, the group announced:

Large groups of SDL were detained at both Perth, Dundee AND Edinburg were detained and prevented from travelling to Glasgow, and main English lads were visisted by Strathclyde police and warned off from travelling to Scotland. In a free country our grandfathers fought off the Germans to defend.

See also

• English Defence League | Welsh Defence League | Ulster Defence League

People

Chris Anderson | Karen Chesser | John Wilkinson | Anthony Bamford | Johnny Brabender | Martin McIntyre | John Robertson

Contact

E-Mail: casualsunitedhq@hotmail.com