Far right humiliated in Cambridge
Steve Eason •A far right demonstration in support of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (alias Tommy Robinson) in Cambridge only drew 17 people, while several hundred anti-fascists gathered to oppose them. Photos and report by Steve Eason (with additional reporting by Nick Evans).
Hundreds of anti-racists, including fire fighters, transport workers and local Cambridge activists successfully prevented a sad gathering of 17 Tommy Robinson supporters from marching.
The far right had hoped to march up Cambridge’s Mill Road, described by one resident as the ‘jewel in the crown of multicultural Cambridge’. Instead, the anti-fascists stood firm until the police drove them back.
Before the march, one fire fighter told the anti-fascists of his anger at the way Tommy Robinson had attempted to blame the victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster. ‘If we’re not frightened of walking into buildings on fire and smoke-filled rooms, we’re certainly not afraid of these pathetic racists’, he concluded.
Other speakers at the rally included local MP Daniel Zeichner, a fast food worker, a representative from Cambridge Mosque, Zareen Taj from Stand Up to Racism, Mitch Mitchell from rs21 and Refugee Lifeboat, and disabled rights activists.
As we then marched through residential areas of the city, and down the Mill Road, we were met with cheers and waves from doorsteps and windows.
A bad day for the disorganised right.
For analysis of recent developments on the far right, see the rs21 briefing document: Exposing the Far Right.
2 comments
It didn’t go any better for the far right (EDL this time) in Worcester on Saturday. Again, it was just over a dozen of them verses several hundred of us. They were completely surrounded and couldn’t go anywhere until the police escorted them in twos and threes back to the railway station.
This report was just what I needed to brighten the start of my week.