EDL to march through Wellington this weekend
The English Defence League will be returning to Telford this weekend for a march that was postponed last month.
The far right group will be marching through Wellington on Saturday in the wake of national reports about child sexual exploitation in Telford.
But community figures have warned that the group's presence in the town will cause division and issues for business owners.
The EDL was set to hold its first national demo of the year in Wellington on March 15, but a terrorist attack in New Zealand that saw nearly 50 people killed made them postpone their plans.
In a statement the EDL said: "We suspended our demo out of consideration for the pain and suffering caused by the Christchurch, New Zealand, mass murder and to give the Muslim community and the world time to grieve and reflect on these events.
"As we said in our earlier statement and have always maintained, we make a distinction between Muslims as individuals and the ideology of Islam.
"By suspending our demonstration, however, we did not abandon our purpose of calling attention to the dangers of radical Islam."
David Lawrence, a member of the Trades Union Council, said: "It is with great disgust that we hear that English Defence League is to visit Wellington.
"Nobody in our town supports CSE as we find it abhorrent in every sense. So why do we need these louts?
"This time they are going to be allowed by the police into Wellington Town Square to give out their message of hate. I doubt if the trades people of Wellington will be as delighted as the EDL."
The group last marched through Wellington in May last year.
About 50 EDL marchers and 40 counter-protesters turned out on that occasion.
Last year a number of Telford groups joined forces to ask the EDL not to attend the town.
A joint statement signed by councillors, Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Telford Unity Forum, Wellington LA21, the Rev Tim Carter of All Saints, Wellington, and Telford Muslim Forum said the march would not provide answers for victims or survivors of CSE.
They wrote: “As a strong united community we would ask the EDL and any other group to stay away from Wellington.
“The disruption to everyday business and the everyday lives of the law-abiding majority is unwanted and unwelcome."
