A right-wing extremist group has told Bristol24-7 it wants to change the date of its planned march in Bristol so that it does not coincide with the city’s Pride march.
As reported yesterday, the English Defence League (EDL) is allegedly planning on holding a march in Bristol on Saturday, July 14 – the same day as the city’s annual Pride celebrations.
Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, said “many LGBT people will feel intimated by the proposed march and people will inevitably stay away from what is suppose to be a family friendly event” – and called for the march to be banned.
Meanwhile, Bristol’s Somali community has also raised fears about an impending confrontation, believing “a hate group [is] planning to target Bristol’s Muslim, specifically Somali, community in July”.
However, EDL spokesman Tommy Robinson called Bristol24-7 soon after our story was published, saying the group wanted to change the date of their march to avoid a conflict with the Pride march.
“We didn’t realise about the Pride event being on the same weekend,” he said. “So we will be changing our date, we don’t want to clash with that.
“There is a liaison meeting with the police tomorrow and we’ll say we don’t want to do our march on the same weekend.”
The spokesman went on to complain that police in Bristol did not inform them that the two events would be occurring on the same day. He added the EDL would look to rearrange their march for the previous or following weekends.
A council spokesman confirmed that meetings would take place to discuss the timings of the march tomorrow.
theyre reffered to as "right wing extremists" yet they happily move their march so it doesnt clash with a gay pride festival? hows that right wing extremist?!
Would have been a bit of a dilemna if you were a gay member of EDL…