Twitter is abuzz this morning with news of the EDL’s (English Defence League, a neo-fascist, racist organisation) ‘systems adminstrator’ Roy Higginson outside the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port campaigning for Unite leadership challenger Gerard Coyne. Here is Higginson’s own image of himself outside the plant, which he posted on an EDL Facebook page and which is already in general circulation:
Incumbent Len McCluskey’s campaign has issued a strong statement calling on Coyne to explain or repudiate the fact of his support by a far-right hate group.
Distance and poor light flatter Mr Higginson. This image taken by a Unite officer, which to our knowledge has not yet been in circulation, shows him a little more clearly:
Other coverage also – from what we’ve seen so far – has also missed Mr Higginson’s own explanation for his support for Gerard Coyne, which is further down his personal Facebook page:
That’s right. Higginson supports Gerard Coyne because he doesn’t like socialists.
Which is kind of awkward for Coyne, given that he hopes to be elected as leader of the country’s biggest union – which is affiliated to the largest socialist (or for that matter political) party in Europe.
Higginson really doesn’t like left-wingers. In his own picture, he’s carrying a campaign leaflet for Coyne along with a copy of The Herald, which features Len McCluskey on the front page. Yesterday, Higginson posted a picture of it with this comment:
Higginson commented on his own Facebook photo of his ‘campaign’:
One has to wonder where Higginson got his pro-Coyne ‘ifno’. But even if that had nothing to do with Coyne’s campaign directly, even the barely-literate neo-nazi fringe can recognise easily that Coyne is a man in the wrong organisation, wrong party, aiming for the wrong job.
Coyne has not, at the time of writing, responded to McCluskey’s call for an explanation, nor has he distanced himself from his latest and possibly most perceptive supporter. But even if he does, the fact that the EDL sees him as a figure to support must surely sink a campaign that was already holed in multiple places below the waterline.
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The official statement from the McCluskey campaign:
Re: Fwd: Unite4Len calls on Coyne to explain EDL support
NEWS FROM UNITE4LEN
For immediate use Friday 31 March, 2017
Issued by Unite4Len, the campaign to re-elect Len McCluskey as general secretary
Unite4Len calls on Coyne to explain EDL support
A prominent member of the English Defence League (EDL) is working with Gerard Coyne’s campaign, Unite4Len can reveal.
Roy Higginson, an “administrator” at the EDL, according to his Facebook page, has posted photographs of himself giving out Gerard Coyne campaign material outside Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.
A spokeswoman for Unite4Len, Len McCluskey’s campaign to be re-elected as general secretary of Unite the union, said:
“Roy Higginson is a prominent member of the EDL and is openly distributing Gerard Coyne campaign material at one of Unite’s biggest workplaces in the North West, along with promoting that material via social media.
“Cosying up to a group that peddles division and fear and violates the principles of the trade union movement really would represent a new low for the Coyne campaign. Perhaps we should not be surprised, however, given that he has already written a column for the Sun and been rewarded with the support of that publication’s columnist Trevor Kavanagh.
“Unite members will rightly be appalled that Len’s opponent is now being said to be relying on the far right to advance his campaign to discredit Len McCluskey and their union.
“Len McCluskey has spent his life fighting racism, from preventing apartheid friendly ships entering Liverpool docks, when he was a young shop steward, to recently being inducted to the Show Racism The Red Card’s Hall of Fame at a celebration in the Speakers residence in parliament.
“By contrast, Gerard Coyne now faces very real questions about his commitment to an anti-racist, tolerant society. His Brexit language has been described as anti-migrant and now EDL members are being said to support his campaign. He needs to explain to Unite members why he has these people working for him because, for our members fighting against prejudice and racism, this is an awful revelation. That a man who wishes to lead our union is allied with some of the most divisive elements of political life is utterly appalling.
“We also call on the prominent Labour MPs who back Gerard’s campaign to condemn this development and distance themselves from Mr Coyne.
“Unite has called on the Trade Union and Labour Party liaison organisation (TULO) to investigate outside interference in its election. But the engagement of members of extreme groups is alarming, not just as confirmation of that outside interference but as an indication of the distasteful company Team Coyne is now being said prepared to keep in order to exact maximum damage to the union.”
Ends
Update 9 July 2021: an anonymous supporter of Gerard Coyne claimed in 2017 that Coyne had repudiated Roy Higginson. However, the url he provided for the statement does not link to a live page and Google’s only record of it is the mention by the Coyne supporter:
Neither does the ‘Wayback’ archiving site appear to have ever found it to archive, nor does archive.li have any record of its existence.
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Reblogged this on Sid's Blog and commented:
Never mind Len wanting to know
I want to know!
It says everything we on the Left know about the “Moderates”
Oh, for goodness sake! This won’t get us anywhere.
What has the EDL ever said that suggests it is a racist hate group? For anyone looking into it with an open mind, all the EDL has ever done is criticize the uglier aspects of islam and its intentions towards the West.
Yes, we need Len to win but stooping to the level of the gutter mainstream media won’t help our cause.
Marge, I don’t even know where to start. How can you think the EDL is *not* a race-hate group?
It’s not up to me to prove a negative.
If you think the EDL is ‘a race-hate group’, we need to see the evidence that convinced you of this. It’s not enough to say something is the case just because loads of people have said it before you.
Jumping on a bandwagon is not proof of anything other than you have jumped on a bandwagon.
Can you quote the EDL on anything they have said that marks them out as people who hate, or people who are racist? What race, for example, do they hate? Where is the evidence?
I have checked them out, and they only criticize islamic ideology that I can see. What have I missed, please?
They clearly do not like any person of NON-white ethniticy and this is not even hidden well behind their “islam is evil” mantra.
1) If islam is evil, then so is Christianity. If you disagree. Open the old testament at any page and go and do what it says God commands. See how long you stay out of prison. With this in mind, why would you be against just one religion? Surely the same accusations can be labelled against any religion?
2) If they are truely against just “muslims” why is there no LGBT representation in their ranks? In fact why are 99.99999% members white working class men?
3) Why are they always trying to fight non-white people?
Good luck in life if you think the EDL have the answers to your problems.
Hi, Duncan. Thank you for replying. 🙂
1. “If islam is evil, then so is Christianity.”
This is not the case. They are not remotely comparable. Christians do not live by the Old Testament because it was superceded by the teachings of Christ in the New Testament. It advocates turning the other cheek etc. See Matt. 5:21-48, where Jesus makes clear that is what His purpose is. No Christian wants to kill anyone. There has been no updated version of the Koran that compares with the New Testament.
There is nothing political about Christianity (Church and State are seperate in the West) whereas Islam wants to replace democratic Governments and legal systems with its own shariah laws by whatever means. Islam is unique among religions in its intention to establish a global caliphate governed by shariah law (with all that implies for democracy and freedom for the rest of us). No other religion does this.
2. I don’t know where you get your statistics with regards non-white people, the LGBT community and EDL, but I can assure you that members of the LGBT community have more reason than most to fear shariah law. You can see video footage on YouTube of members of this minority being tossed off high rise buildings head first, hands tied behind their backs. That is the punishment for being a member of this minority under shariah law.
With regards to being white working class men (regardless of whether they constitute the majority of EDL or not), since when has this defined a racist organization? Why is it alright to demonize a white working class men’s group but not, for example, the socially homogenous muslim communities? Where is the EVIDENCE that being a white working class man is proof of hate ideology or racism? Why should they not have their own organization? In reality, there are women in it and I do not speculate whether other groups are barred from joining. Do you have evidence that they are?
I do not claim to know what the EDL demographic profile is and you have only speculated on it to the detriment of white working class men. I am not prejudiced against white working class men and do not mind if they are the majority in EDL or not.
3. “Why are they always trying to fight non-white people?”
I have found no evidence for this. Could you share yours, please?
I have no opinion on whether EDL can solve my problems in life but merely asked Skwawkbox to substantiate his (or her?) assertions with evidence. So far, he (or she?) hasn’t.
Thank you for engaging in rational debate, Duncan.
Regards,
Marge
Not suprised by this the only thing missing is Kinnnock and Blair helping him.
https://twitter.com/Far_Right_Watch/status/830051254344744960
https://twitter.com/hopenothate/status/835503727465365505
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/07/454929.html
http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/hate-groups/edl/
http://edlreview.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/edl-is-not-racist.html
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/05/28/not-racist-send-the-black-cunts-home-says-edl-speaker/
Case closed!
Ah, yes. ‘Paki’. Isn’t this an abbreviation for ‘Pakistani muslim’? You mean the men who groomed, assaulted and raped 1,400 mostly white girls in Rotherham over many years with the full complicity of the police, social services etc. Well, we mustn’t offend them, must we! 🙂
Marge, can’t you see what you just did? No, that word DOESN’T mean ‘the men who’ etc. It’s an insulting term for ALL Pakistani people. But you just generically lumped them all together. The ‘N’ word comes from the Spanish word for ‘black’ – are you going to argue that’s merely a factual term?
Hi Skwawkbox,
Let’s break this down to see what is actually going on here.
See HannahB’s last example above – the tweet that reads, ‘#EDL now chanting “are you Pakis in disguise?” at the police in Rotherham.’ The examples she provides are all basically the same in this regard so I’ll use this last one as my example.
Firstly, I’m not in favour of using the expression ‘paki’ and would never encourage its use. However, IMO, it is not as bad as using the ‘N’ word as you claim as this suggests inferior slave status – a concept which is historically irrelevant to the Pakistani muslim community. I believe the word ‘paki’ is a form of disrespectful verbal short-hand and nothing more (otherwise we would be saying ‘the P word’). Also, people on peaceful protest marches do shorten words to make snappy chants in order to make their point. I was guilty of chanting ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Out! Out! Out!’ in my day but did not hate women called ‘Margaret’.
Secondly, the people using the word ‘paki’ are a demographic for whom rough speech is probably normal. The white working class male traditionally uses basic speech that may offend people who have been privileged enough to have an education etc (they are now the least likely to thrive in our society for example). We need to allow for this class divide before judging them, just as we make similar allowances for other demographic groups.
Thirdly, the protesters were angry because the Pakistani muslim community and the Rotherham Police had covered up crimes of rape and torture perpetrated by Pakistani muslim men against 1,400 vulnerable under-age (predominantly) white, working class British girls over many years. When people are angry they tend to ‘eff and blind’ as a way of letting off steam. This is better than being physically violent. People are free to either approve of this or not. The fact that the protesters were angered by the heinous crimes, and the equally heinous cover-up, restores my faith in human nature, actually, and I note that no-one on this blog has even mentioned the suffering caused to the children, and their families, affected by these violent crimes. We should not be afraid to state FACTS for fear of being called ‘racist’.
Fourthly, the Rotherham rape gang were able to function because of the low status of women in their culture and ideology, their perception of non-muslims and the reluctance of mainstream society (principally ‘the Left’) to criticize them. People like your good self would rather dismiss the sufferings of vulnerable children and condemn the anger and speech-patterns of right-thinking human beings than ‘offend’ the criminals responsible. With respect, this is abnormal. It suggests a society degenerating and losing its way. You need to ask yourself why you think it is better to pander to the feelings of people who follow a dangerous ideology than to protect the basic safety of vulnerable members of your own traditional society. The EDL members you hate so much yourself, have already decided to brave the backlash and defend their own – and I respect them for that.
Just a thought.
If the situation were reversed, and the Rotherham Police had winked at the crimes of a rape gang of white men targeting Pakistani muslim girls, how would your media coverage and attitude have differed then (incidently, this scenario has never been known to happen)?
In such a scenario, would it be acceptable to you for the Pakistani muslim community to protest and use verbal shorthand against the police and criminals?
Why the two different attitudes?