Watching the EDL Grunt Its Way into a Depressing New Era in Bradford

When Tommy Robinson and Kev Carroll leapt from the sinking ship of the EDL last week, their erstwhile supporters tended to react in one of two different ways. To some, they were traitors who'd been duped by the closet jihadists of the Quilliam Foundation. To others, they were heroic crusaders finally stepping down after an extended tour of duty. Either way, EDL supporters generally gave off the air of an army whose king had been slain on the battlefield. It made Saturday's planned demonstration in Bradford seem like a pretty high stakes affair, so I went along to check it out.

The question of what would become of the EDL in the post-Kev and Tommy era hung in the air with the endless drizzle. Asked at a press conference last Tuesday whether someone would take on the mantle of leadership, Tommy Robinson said, “No one’s going to replace me… No one’s going to put their head on the block.”

Nevertheless, some kind of high council of regional organisers seems to have been formed, and they've chosen a man from Dorset named Tim Ablitt to be their new leader. His main qualification seems to be that he was previously arrested in connection with a plot to blow up a mosque in Bournemouth, although charges were never brought.

In Bradford, the police had the situation on lockdown; creating a cordon of police vans around the tiny playpen the EDL were allowed to stand drinking in. Journalists weren't allowed anywhere near the rally, which took place outside a pub a minute or so away from the station, and there were more cops than EDL supporters there to shrug their shoulders at frustrated hacks brandishing their press cards. The EDL didn't see much of Bradford and Bradford didn't see much of them.

You could hear them well enough, though. During the rally, chants of, “Tommy, Tommy, who the fuck is Tommy?” went up and in his speech, Ablitt reassured his new mates that, "The EDL is not about one person or two people… Looking at today and looking at everyone who’s turned up today, it proves a point. The EDL is never going to go away. We will never surrender. Next year we will take the EDL higher, better, bigger and we will take the streets back.”

So that’s something to look forward to. In truth, with a turnout estimated at around 300, the threat seems a little empty. You can't choose to surrender if you're already dead.

As they were escorted back to their trains and coaches, they came just near enough for some members of the very small anti-fascist demo to walk over and chant, "Where's your leader gone?" to the tune of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". That – as well as a bizarre moment when, for no particular reason, a few EDL decided to run away from the police into a car park (above) – was about as exciting as things got. It was a far cry from the riot that kicked off last time they were in Bradford.

It’s hard to say whether this was a post-guillotine death spasm, or if the EDL will carry on like a bigoted hydra – sprouting more heads when you cut them off. For now, at least, it looks like Tommy Robinson will be making more headlines than the group he left behind.

Follow Simon and Chris on Twitter: @SimonChilds13 and @CBethell_photo

Previously:

We Watched Tommy Robinson Hold Back the Tears at his EDL Exit Speech

Revealing Quilliam, the Muslim Destroyers of the English Far-Right

Farewell, Tommy Robinson, Brave English Lionheart