On The March

A short post this week as I am going on a march - no the title isn't some business guru's idea of moving your business forward.

Today the EDL have decided to march through my home town of Middlesbrough spreading hatred and poison. As a proud Teessider and Boro lad I'm really not happy with this.

I'm going on my first political march for many years and it is in opposition to the EDL and here's a few reasons why:

I am an atheist, my friends are Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikh, of no faith, Pastafarians and probably of some faiths that I have missed out as I don't really care what faith my friends are.

I am a socialist (not as strange as it may seem for a business owner), my friends are anarchist, communist, socialist, liberal, green and there's even a good few conservatives in there. PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE NO FASCISTS IN MY CIRCLE OF FRIENDS AND NEVER WILL BE.

I'm sick of groups like the EDL, Britain First and other fascists conning the unaware into liking them with "support for our troops" posts etc. My father was in the RAF in WW2. He fought fascism then and these groups follow the very people he fought against and dishonour forces personnel with their sham support.

My home town has great potential to thrive based on its people, and its people are a diverse group of races, religions, beliefs and countries of birth. My home town welcomes all who want to be part of a history that started with primarily foreign-owned industry built on the labour of people from around the globe. The people of Middlesbrough are many and varied and that is one of our great strengths.

Today I will honour someone no longer with us who was a veteran of WW2. He fought Hitler in a uniform and Moseley's fascists out of it on the streets of Teesside. The least I could do to honour my father's memory and that of all WW2 veterans is to oppose fascism on the street's of Middlesbrough today. So that's where I'm going now