Pegida UK
Pegida UK was set up in January 2015 in an attempt to replicate the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant PEGIDA protests seen in Germany which started in Dresden.
The Pegida UK facebook page was set up on 1 January 2015. It had over 3,000 'likes' one week later. The page claimed to be for Europeans who 'dislike radical Islam' but the tag given to the page was 'Patriots of Europe against Islam'.
Activities
A post on 6 January 2015 stated that 'ultimately the aim is to organize (sic) peaceful protests'.[1]. After a number of people were murdered at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on 7 January 2015, Pegida UK held a poorly attended 'vigil' in Manchester on 11 January 2015.
In February 2015 the Independent newspaper reported that a group calling itself Pegida UK planned to hold a rally in Newcastle on 28 February (referred to as its 'first' UK demonstration) and said subsequent events were slated to take place in Birmingham and London.[2]
Pegida UK's 28 February 2015 demonstration in Newcastle went ahead, attracting up to 400 people but was outnumbered by up to 3,000 counter-protesters. Matthew Pope was described in the media as Pegida UK's spokesperson.[3]
People
According to the site EDL News, which monitors the English Defence League (EDL), the orginal admins for Pegida UK's facebook page included several people with known far-right affiliations:
- Donna Treanor - a veteran former member of the fascist British National Party and subsequently a member of ex-leader Nick Griffin's new party, British Voice
- Ronnie Alte - until recently the leader of the Norwegian Defence League, a street movement modelled on the EDL said to have influenced mass murdered Anders Behring Breivik
- Craig Farnsworth - a member of several far right groups in the Bolton area including the English Defence League, the Infidels (a National Front spin off), the British National Party and its splinter group the British Voice.
- Steven Barker - member of the English Volunteer Force, a splinter group of the English Defence League who model themselves on paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.
- Billy Charlton - a long term member of the English Defence League’s Sunderland Division.[4]
Gary Hastings of EDL News concluded that Pegida UK was 'the UK’s far right trying to present a respectable face'.[4]
By the time the group held its first demonstration the following people were described in the media as Pegida spokespeople:
- Matthew Pope[3] - reportedly a devout Christian, a fan of the British national Party, the English Defence League and Britain First on facebook and formerly the administrator of a page called 'Ban Islam'[5]
- Marion Rogers[6] - reportedly 'Proprietor of JR Flat Roofing in Redruth'[7]
Notes
- ↑ Screengrab of Pegida UK's facebook page on 7 January 2015, Powerbase, 7 January 2015
- ↑ Kashmira Gander, Pegida movement to hold first UK rally, The Independent, 5 February 2015, accessed 6 February 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dominic Smith, Far-right Pegida eclipsed by its opponents at first UK demo, The guardian, 28 February 2015, accessed 27 March 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gary Hastings, PEGIDA UK – A MIDDLE CLASS PROTEST GROUP OR A FRONT FOR THE FAR RIGHT?, EDL News, 10 January 2015, accessed 12 January 2015
- ↑ Shane Croucher, Pegida UK promoter Matthew Pope wants Islam banned and has far-right links, IBTimes, 12 February 2015
- ↑ 'Anti-Islamisation' group Pegida UK holds Newcastle march, BBC News Online, 28 February 2015, accessed 27 March 2015
- ↑ Derek Fender, PEGIDA UK MANAGE TO ATTRACT FOUR DEMONSTRATORS TO THEIR SCOTLAND DEMO, EDLNews, 22 March 2015
