THERE were numerous histrionics flying around Piccadilly Gardens on Saturday October 10th – some

relevant, some ridiculous.

Public disorder tempered by baton wielding policeman drew some comparisons to last May’s “Battle of
Piccadilly”, where 150,000 Glasgow Rangers fans stretched Manchester to its limits. The name Ian
Tomlinson (the demonstrator who died during 2008's G20 protests) was branded by those angry at a
heavy police presence. There were even some adolescent anti-fascist demonstrators who felt that
reminding the police of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre was relevant and appropriate advice to be giving to
a 21st century copper.

Of course the real parallels, which were poignantly pointed out to the final sprinklings late in the
afternoon, were with the rise of the right in the 1930s and 1970s. Mike Gilligan from Unite Against
Fascism spoke once the police had ushered away the majority of the 2,000 demonstrators, and
reminded us of the times when the British Union of Fascists and the National Front brought far-right
parasites to their greatest prominence, and the violent scenes on Cable Street, London in 1936. He said
that the Mancunian veterans that he knew would’ve been proud of those who were standing up to this
recurring enemy.

In the 1930’s it was the Jews and in the 1970’s it was the blacks who suffered from this misguided
doctrine - a belief that lays blame on the basis of race and religion. The latest offensive from right-wing
extremism sees the country’s South Asian population being blamed for our rising unemployment, our
proud nation’s decreased sense of identity, our immigration policies and the perceived ghettoisation in
many British cities. You’d think with the help of modern media, communication and education
that people would learn better than to clutch to archaic, lazy beliefs that simplify complicated
problems far too easily.

The English Defence League have simplified everything to unprecedented levels. They claim not to be
racist, and for the sake of not getting into some quasi-PC debate on what is and what isn't racist I won't
dispute that (despite those nazi salutes that their followers seem fond of), and I'll assume that their aims
are purely political. Their basic grievance is with British Muslims - primarily British extremist
Muslims such as those responsible for the London bombings. The EDL must be under the impression
that the rest of the British population has a pretty blasé attitude towards terrorism. Maybe they're right.
Perhaps there needs to be a campaign against Christian rapists and Jewish pick-pocketers in order to
maintain some impartiality.

The Irish, along with Britain's Jewish, Afro-Caribbean and now our Asian population, have also been
subject to disgusting discrimination over the years. The phrase "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish" used to be
a common sight around England in the 1950's and 60's - around the same time that hundreds of
thousands of immigrants from the West Indies and South Asia began arriving in Great Britain. This
migration massively helped in plugging the employment holes created by the war against fascism.
After all, the British commonwealth hadn't exactly been whiter than white (excuse the pun) while
colonising a third of the planet, so the least we could do was give them the chance of a better life. More
importantly though, we needed these people following the massive loss of life in World War II.

One thing that strikes me as a little contradictory about it all, and I do confess to being a bit too young
to remember the whole of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, and the IRA's resulting bombing
campaign in the United Kingdom, but I never heard about any marches against Irish Catholics. Where
were all these politically motivated Englishman after the IRA blew up half of central Manchester,
carrying placards displaying such polemics as "No More Priests" and an image of the down-trodden
Mrs Doyle?

I'm pretty sure there were plenty of IRA members who lived in Britain, maybe even holding British
passports and living within welcomed Irish communities. Yet how many English people enjoy a pint of
Caffrey's on St Patrick's Day while wearing a comedy Guinness hat and drunkenly singing along to The
Pogues? I wonder if we'll ever greet Eid with as much acceptance.