The SDL must be confronted this Saturday

The story is all too familiar. Once again this Saturday, the rump group of semi-organised racists that make up the “Scottish Defence League” will take to the streets of a Scottish city. Having been denied their proposed march route by Edinburgh City Council last month, the group are now claiming to be holding a “static rally” in the capital’s city centre this weekend.

This represents the first time the SDL have attempted to demonstrate in a major city since February 2010, when they were outnumbered over 25-1 and left unable to march in Edinburgh, as hundreds of anti-fascists evaded police lines (and UAF megaphones) to ensure the SDL were kettled inside Jenny Ha’s pub at the bottom of the Royal Mile. Although no formal application to march had been made, it’s almost certain that the police would have allowed a demonstration to proceed outside of the nearby Scottish Parliament, had there not been such a large anti-fascist presence.

Since their last Edinburgh outing 19 months ago, which followed a not much more successful first demo in Glasgow in November 2009, the SDL have adopted a strategy of holding demonstrations in near secrecy out with the main cities, making anti-fascist mobilisation more difficult. Now, however, the SDL are venturing back to the big city, with all the subsequent publicity that that has entailed, particularly coming just a week after the much-hyped up EDL demonstration in Tower Hamlets.

The level of opposition the SDL will face on Saturday is unclear, although Lothian and Borders Police have issued a statement promising “robust action against any disorder or unlawful actions”. Unite Against Fascism have organised a counter-demo, which will meeting at the foot of the Mound at 11am before marching along the road to the Wellington Statue at the east end of Princes Street, where a rally will hear from various MSPs and local dignitaries. They state that “By holding the area around Wellington statue we will physically prevent the racists from entering our city centre. This area will be within sight of where the SDL intend to assemble, so the size of our protest will demonstrate that that they are a tiny extremist minority.”

Given past experience of SDL demonstrations, the UAF statement amounts to little more than part fantasy, part sheer fallacy. There is no way of knowing where – or indeed when – the SDL will assemble, nor how they will arrive in the city. Given that they will now not be marching, at least officially, it’s highly likely that the police have reached a private arrangement for the SDL to meet elsewhere in the city, under close police supervision. The idea that this will be anywhere near the official UAF demo, let alone that UAF will be able to “physically prevent” the SDL from being able to enter the city centre by being effectively kettled next to a statue, is complete delusion.

Just like last February, anti-fascists need to directly confront the SDL and prevent them from being allowed to have a public assembly in Edinburgh city centre. Then, as now, the police had reached a private arrangement with the fascists for a demonstration spot. Meanwhile, anti-fascists were meant to keep their side of the bargain and not venture outside of a strictly pre-arranged march route, enforced by megaphone-toting UAF officials. Several hundred of us disagreed, and evaded police lines to reach and surround the pub in which the SDL were situated. Throughout, UAF stewards attempted to direct everyone back to Princes Street Gardens, whilst claiming that the SDL were “in Haymarket”, and that the alleged fascists in Jenny Ha’s pub were in fact “Hibs casuals”. It was, of course, a lie – and a dangerous one at that.

The lessons of last February need to be learned from and remembered. We can’t rely on the state to crush the far-right, a failed strategy that has multiple political pitfalls, and ultimately doesn’t work and never has done. And nor can we rely on official marches and rallies, penned in by police miles away from the fascists – we need direct action on a mass basis, to confront and prevent the SDL from spreading their racist bigotry to Edinburgh’s streets.