John Denham’s Mosley comparison merely sensationalises race-tensions

Communities Secretary John Denham has compared the English Defence League (EDL), the group that has organised protests against what it describes as the ‘Islamification of Britain’, to Oswald Mosley’s Union of British Fascists. Whilst announcing that the government plans to re-engage predominantly white working class voters who are being seduced by the BNP, Denham said:

“You could go back to the 1930s if you wanted to – Cable Street and all of those types of things. The tactic of trying to provoke a response in the hope of causing wider violence and mayhem is long established on the far-right and among extremist groups.”

Denham is right to express concern that the EDL’s provocation tactics might incite extremism from the far-left, far-right and indeed militant Islam. Alhough Denham did point out that the situation is not on the scale of 1930s yet, comparing the EDL with Mosley’s ‘Blackshirts’ is scaremongering that sensationalises the issue of race-tension.