Last weekend 23rd / 24Th April saw the St.Georges day weekend and this year I along with my wife ensured we had booked the weekend off of work so we could enjoy it to its full extent.
Saturday - I finished work nice and early and headed home to get changed and then head to Trafalgar square ( yes i had to work for a few hours)
Wearing my George cross shirt we went by underground to Victoria and walked from there to Trafalgar square.
On the train a woman commented on my shirt and a conversation about an English Parliament was held which she agreed with - we parted and wished each other a nice day.
There were a few looks but most were at my badges which consisted of an English knight , a round one stating 23/4 was st.Georges day , a poppy joined with the George cross flag and also my English Democrats badge which i always wear.
On the way to the square there was a distinct lack of George crosses being flown , the only exception was the Albert pub which was fully decorated and also a George cross flag flying from Westminster abbey - which is normal - , nothing outside downing streets (no surprise there) then.
On arrival at the square there was many people walking around and many people wearing the English flag in some way or another and also a stage which had st George's day in big bold lettering with the words Mayor of London under it just so we know who organised it.
I found some English democrats friends and put on my English Jokers hat and along with Janus we had many pictures taken of us and took many as well - About 45 minutes after we arrived the English defence league showed up - you heard them first - and they walked through the square to where some others had located waving their bexley division flag and and singing "I'm English til i die , i know i..." they assumed a high position and unfurled their banners laughing and joking and singing - About 5 minutes after they arrived the police showed up with their monitoring van - But as usual they were jolly and well behaved and the police just looked on.
It was at about 1pm that a rumour circulated that the Muslims against the crusaders were burning our flags in White chapel (a so called strong hold of theirs) and also in Manchester , people wanted to go but this was a day for the people of England to celebrate and enjoy.
We all had fun and at about 6pm me and the wife decided to leave.
March for England in Brighton.
We left home at about 7 30 am and headed to Victoria coach station , we met my mum and was on the road by 9am.
We arrived unhasselled and relaxed by 11am at the seafront and then went for a walk to see if we could find the station where everyone was meeting up.
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The first area we found was to be where the parade ended and we asked a policeman for directions who noted our march for England tops and pointed us in the right direction.
Walking through the town we saw sporadic police and knew we were heading in the right direction following the road signs to the station we then saw the station in the distance and more police.
As we approached i realised there was a large crown and they were all holding banners some were about islamophobia which were out of place because this had nothing to do with Islam and was "JUST" a parade to celebrate st.Georges day and have some fun.
The communications workers union were there the huge banner told me so and a fair number of red and black flags ?
There were also a number of banners which stated something about the fascist EDL and i think some said something about the bnp too - to my knowledge no bnp people were present and there were a few edl people, along with a couple of English democrats (me me me me ) , but we were all there to join march for England and and were all happy to march under that banner as we have done on many other occasions and do so with pride each and every time.
We (me , my mum and my wife) walked through the gathering opposing the MFE and had some comments made but ignored them all as they were not complementary at all.
Then joined the people with the MFE at the pub and went round and said hello to people.
Many people whom i knew where there and some which we had not seen for a while and i met a few new friends as well - I made a point of saying hello to Dave the organiser of MFE and then just mingled.
Before we set off a number of (UAF) they did not call themselves that but thats waht they were were arrested and this was to be the norm for the day - to my knowledge none of the mfe patriots were arrested.
There were large numbers of police in riot gear and the day was very hot and they must have over heated and i fail to see how none collapsed from wearing all that gear - The ones whom we spoke with were all good natured and had a fair job keeping control of the UAF people who seamed hell bent on antagonising the mfe people before , during and after the event.
The parade was quite slow because the police had to keep stopping to clear them out of the way and if you read the web page of the people who were fore fronting the opposition called the Brighton Anti fascists they do not and refuse to work with the police - this would be why so many police had to be around as they were an unknown quantity and it really is quite sad that they refuse to work with the "establishment".
Anyway we made it to Victoria park which i think it was named and our final destination and then just recovered for a while before the end came upon us.
Before we were taken back to the station where we began (that's where the police wanted us) Dave gave a speech which said it was the hardest work for a parade he had ever done (he is a credit to mfe and also to the people of England each and every time MFE do something it is always a pleasure to be among them as it is well organised and the security is excellent)
He told us that we will be back next year and many among the people who went will i hope travel again and many new people will join us and make it bigger and better next year.
The final speech was given my the mother of Jamie James who was a soldier who served and died in Afghanistan , a collection had been going around all day for the Jamie James appeal fund which is a fund set up to help those family's who's loved ones die.
She done herself and her son great credit and i think her talk moved everyone.
After the speeches were finished we were taken back to where we had started and done our own thing.
We made our way to find something to eat as it was Easter Sunday and I had promised my mum a meal out for showing up.
During the afternoon at different stages we saw and chatted to many who were with us and i think it was the general consensus that we all had a good time.
I have some links for you to look at
Jamie James trust appeal on facebook.
March for England on facebook
