SIR – I have yet to decide on whether I should sign the petition calling for a ban on the EDL rally in Bradford this month.
It would certainly be the easiest thing to do. A band of odious outsiders want to come to Bradford with, I believe, the aim of provoking local people into attacking them – or more truthfully attacking the police who would have to try and protect the EDL – and thereby create scenes flashed around the world of Muslims attacking the police. Ban the rally and they can go somewhere else.
First of all, I am not sure we have the powers to ban an assembly, but also what concerns me about the petition is that it represents a massive vote of no confidence in the people of Bradford to be able to deal with a threat to community cohesion in a peaceful way.
Are we saying we have learned nothing from 1995 and 2001? Would it not be a more powerful message to the EDL to say we are not scared of you and we will not let you divide us?
David Ward, MP for Bradford East, Greenfield Lane, Idle, Bradford
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