Right wing demonstration passes peacefully

North West Infidels demonstration in Rochdale
Saturday 4 February 2012

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Around 100 members of the Infidels of Britain took part in a demonstration in Rochdale today (Saturday 4 February).

The demonstration, which took place outside Rochdale Town Hall, passed off peacefully and no arrests were made.

Those partaking were confined to a pen cordoned off by police officers and barriers.

Stood in freezing temperatures and with snow falling the group waved flags and chanted.

It is understood people travelled from as far as Scotland to take part.

The demonstration was over by 2.00pm and no counter demonstration took place.

Up to 250 police officers worked to ensure the demonstration passed peacefully.

The motive for the demonstration is unclear. According to a Facebook post made by the Infidels of Britain it was to ‘demonstrate against immigration, EU membership and multiculturalism.’

The Infidels of Britain describe themselves as: ‘An alliance of various right wing nationalists, patriotic and loyalist groups from different parts of the UK.”

Rochdale Council Leader, Councillor Colin Lambert, said: “The police have done an absolutely sterling job today in keeping the people of Rochdale safe and ensuring that this event caused minimum disruption to our town’s businesses and residents.

“We enjoy excellent relationships with our partners in the Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and other agencies and times like this demonstrate how important these relationships are.

“We are proud to stand up for Rochdale and I would like to commend the communities of Rochdale, who continue to show that diverse populations can live together in peace. Racist and hateful views have no place in our borough.”

Pam Smith, Executive Director at Rochdale Borough Council, added: “Working together in partnership, the council, the police, our community volunteers and many more showed today what Rochdale is all about; different people coming together and working together for the good of the people of our borough.

“We could not have had a better example of how committed our police force are to the safety of our residents and businesses than what we saw today. They acted with complete professionalism to ensure this event passed without incident and that nobody in our community felt under threat at any time.”