Paul Embery is one of the most interesting, insightful and original voices to have emerged in British journalism for some time — Douglas Murray
I remember well the counter-demonstrations that I used to attend against the far right. The main demonstrations were usually organised by outfits such as the National Front (NF) or British National Party, both of which were populated by leaders and activists who displayed overt racist tendencies and quite often harboured genuine fascist and Nazi sympathies.
Our side, by contrast, was comprised of the foot soliders of the left – anti-racist activists, members of assorted political organisations, and labour movement foot soldiers such as me.
One event at which I was present – a march held by the NF in Bermondsey, south-east London, in 2001 – very nearly turned into a mass brawl, with the opposing sides prevented from getting at each other only by the presence of three or four ranks of police officers (some of whom had their truncheons drawn and were deploying them quite liberally).