Stop Making Sense

Lord Tebbit Says, "No Evidence EDL is Far-Right"

From the Huffing-and-Puffington Post:

The outspoken former Conservative minister Lord Tebbit has insisted there is no evidence the English Defence League is "far right", sparking new debate on the place of the anti-Muslim street group on the political spectrum.

Lord Tebbit has challenged the founder of an anti-Islamophobia monitoring group to prove the group adheres to far-right principles, and says calling the group "right-wing" is an attempt to smear mainstream conservatives.

The former Conservative Party chair took issue with the description of the EDL in an independent report produced by Teesside University on the Far Right and the promotion of anti-Muslim prejudice, commissioned by Tell MAMA.

Lord Tebbit has challenged the 'lazy' definition of the EDL as 'far-right'

In an email, seen by The Huffington Post UK, he told Fiyaz Mughal, director of Tell MAMA:

"It is no good telling me that they are nasty. Pol Pot, Stalin, Kim, Castro and Mao were nasty, but they were not 'right wing'."

Lord Tebbit told HuffPost UK: "Pol Pot wasn't in favour of immigration, Stalin was authoritarian. I have no idea what the EDL's view on state ownership or supply-side economics are.

"The labelling of the EDL as right-wing is just an attempt to associate these thugs with those of us in this country who hold right-wing views.

"They are certainly authoritarian in nature, but I actually associate them with some of the aspects of communism."