English Defence League (EDL)
Founded: 27 June 2009
Founders: Kevin Carroll/Tommy Robinson (former leader)
Leader: Tim Ablitt
Key Members: Alan Lake/Trevor Kelway/Jeff Marsh/Chris Renton
Headquarter: Luton, United Kingdom
Type: Far-right social movement and a street-based group
Organisational Ideology: Anti-Muslim/Anti-immigrant/Islamophobia/English Nationalism/Populism
Online Resources
None
Overview
The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, anti-Muslim social organisation and a pressure group in the United Kingdom. The EDL uses street protests as its primary technique to combat Islamism and Islamic extremism, although its language and actions target Islam and Muslims more broadly. The EDL’s main focus was on organising protests, holding an average of ten to fifteen demonstrations each year, bringing masses ranging from 100 to 3000 people.
The organisation grew rapidly, staging rallies across England and frequently fighting with anti-fascist protestors from Unite Against Fascism and other organisations, who saw EDL as a racist organisation targeting British Muslims. The EDL also developed a significant social media presence, particularly on Facebook and YouTube before being banned for violating their policies. As it moved into electoral politics, it formalised ties with the far-right British Freedom Party, which itself splintered from the British National Party. The EDL’s reputation was severely harmed in 2011 after members were convicted of plotting to bomb mosques.
The EDL portrays Islam as an intolerant, primitive menace with an overarching aim of conquering Europe, rejecting the notion that Muslims can legitimately be English. This anti-Muslim viewpoint has been described as culturally racist by political scientists and other observers. EDL members have incited violence against Muslims both online and during its rallies, with followers carrying out violent lone-wolf attacks. The EDL’s larger philosophy is based on nationalism and populism, with the EDL blaming high immigration rates and an uncaring political class for a perceived degradation in English culture. It distanced itself from the conventional far-right in the United Kingdom by opposing biological racism, antisemitism, and homophobia.
Additionally, members of the EDL frequently express anti-migrant attitudes. They consider immigrants as harmful to white British people, socially disruptive, and fundamentally altering the culture and traditions of England. Members of the EDL regard immigrants as economic competitors, outbidding white British people for employment by working for less than the legal minimum wage.
By early 2013, experts observed that the EDL’s influence was declining, as seen by fewer people attending its events, its founder’s imprisonment, and the party’s failure to join electoral politics. Groups that had previously been closely associated with the EDL, such as Casuals United and March for England, were reclaiming their distinct identities. Splinter and more extreme organisations such as the North West Infidels, North East Infidels, South East Alliance, and Combined Ex-Forces began rising to prominence. Some of these, such as the North West Infidels and the South East Alliance, took more radical positions, collaborating with the fascist National Front and using the white supremacist 14 words slogan (“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.”) on social media. Other activists left the EDL to advocate for Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Ties to Extremism
The EDL has a long history of racism, violence and racial hatred. In April 2010, 3000 EDL protesters gathered in Dudley to oppose the construction of a new mosque. Two months later, EDL members occupied the top of an abandoned building on the planned mosque’s location, announcing their intention to play the Islamic call to prayer five times a day to warn the residents of the noise pollution that would result if the mosque was erected. The protestors were quickly dispersed by police. Additionally, In 2011, the EDL launched a nationwide campaign, “No New Mosques,” building on past anti-mosque development campaigns organised by various local sections. When a mosque was set to be established in West Bridgford, an EDL organiser and three friends defaced the property with a severed pig’s head and the spray-painted words “No mosque here EDL Notts.”
On July 20, 2013, the EDL staged a protest in Birmingham where 20 members were charged with violence and incitement by the police. Another incident took place in 2015 where a group of 50 EDL supporters were collectively sentenced to more than 75 years in prison for violent disorder.
On June 19, 2017, EDL member Darren Osbourne drove his car into a crowd of people outside London’s Finsbury Park mosque, killing one and injuring nine others. According to police, Osbourne became radicalized within three to four weeks of reading violent and propaganda materials by Robinson and other British far-right groups. Although the tech giants have suspended EDL’s social accounts, the group is maintaining a strong presence on the ground.
