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Far-right’s refugee ‘protest’ at Lunar House attracts just 10

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Getting the message across: anti-racists had a banner on show in the Whitgift Centre car park just to ensure there was no doubt about how they felt about the far-right

Lunar House in central Croydon has long been a ‘target’ for the far-right’s attempts at protest against migrants and asylum-seekers. Saturday’s limp effort demonstrated, once again, that the racists can’t organise a piss-up in a ‘Spoons, as our special correspondent, MILLIE TANT, reports

Police presence: the Met was on hand to try to maintain the peace

While a good number anti-racist groups assembled on Saturday to oppose the latest far-right protest at Lunar House, the Home Office’s immigration office on Wellesley Road, the anticipated ramshackle group of racists, neo-nazis and fascists at first failed to show. They were late for their own protest.

The far-right decided that they wanted to oppose Afghans, many of whom had given years of service to this country, to be able to claim refuge from the Taliban in this country.

But it turned out that the assorted racists and neo-nazis couldn’t drag themselves away from their favourite watering hole, The George, one of Brexit buffoon Tim Martin’s ’Spoons pubs, just a short walk away in central Croydon. All that foreign-sounding lager must have softened their resolve…

Finally, they did turn up, all 10 of them, looking more than a bit sheepish.

The police were on hand to ensure that they didn’t discover any kind of courage, Dutch or otherwise, and marched them single file into a concrete space away from Lunar House, where they were kept safely behind a strong cordon of hi-vizzed old Bill.

Suitably penned in, the self-acclaimed “master race” just stood there, waving their Union and St George flags, looking more than a little sorry for themselves.

Refugees welcome here: more than 200 anti-fascists turned up to demonstrate their solidarity with migrants

Notable by his absence was James Goddard, the leader of Patriotic Alternative (the latest name for a wannabee BNP group), who had called the protest.

The handful of fascists was small enough that it was easy to recognise the few familiar faces, well-known to anti-fascists over several years.

Some, like Tony Martin, the Croydon resident and leader of the National Front (yes, they still exist, just), have attempted to seek election locally in the past, and have had their vile views roundly rejected, never attracting more than a few hundred votes. On Saturday, Martin and his mates found themselves outnumbered by anti-fascists by 20-to-1.

There were no arrests.

The racists and their very full bladders were eventually escorted back to the ’Spoons by the police, who stood watch over them while they filled their distended bellies with more lager.

They were last seen brawling amongst themselves.

As one veteran anti-fascist observed, “If they’ve got no one to turn on, they always end up turning on each other.”

With the fascist “protest” over, the banner that had been draped from the Whitgift Centre car park, opposite Lunar House, was finally taken down. Its message had got across: “Fascist Scum Fuck Off Out of Croydon”.


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