A Birmingham mosque answered the “hatred and division” of an English Defence League rally by hosting a “best of British” tea party, as the far-right group’s demonstration passed off without a major incident.
The party at the city’s Central mosque, for which the building was decked out with union flag bunting, was open to all and organised in direct response to the EDL event in the city centre on Saturday afternoon.
A statement issued by the city council on behalf of the party group leaders, John Clancy, Robert Alden and Jon Hunt, said: “The English Defence League is not welcome in Birmingham. They will never be welcome in Birmingham. We would urge people to go about their normal everyday business. There is no place in our city for messages of hate. There is no place for intolerance and there is no place for violence or extremism of any kind.”
The mosque’s chairman, Muhammad Afzal, said: “We are just holding this event to show EDL that Birmingham is a peaceful city and we are all united irrespective of colour, race or religion.”
The EDL said Saturday’s rally was aimed at highlighting what it describes as a “continued increase in Islamic terrorism” linked to Birmingham. In a statement explaining its decision to move the demonstration away from Derby, the EDL said Birmingham had been chosen as a venue because the city was “frequented” by the Westminster attacker, Khalid Masood.
Birmingham Food Drive also held its own response to the rally. Volunteers offered free food, clothes, live music and haircuts for the homeless in the city.
