edlong - i suppose it depend if he's sincere or just trying to influence a possible judicial hearing that someone alluded to earlier in this thread.
Isn't it a bit early to call?
Sinn Fein were always a political party with a power base that would vote for them
The EDL are a protest group with no electoral mandate and no wider political aims that i am aware of so they are not identical
I agree it appears, at present, that the rejection of violence and intimidation by him is a good thing. He now has to walk the walk and prove it was heartfelt rather than expedient
Given his past ,ignoring EDL activity, he must have had one hell of an epiphany.
edlong - i suppose it depend if he's sincere or just trying to influence a possible judicial hearing that someone alluded to earlier in this thread.
I can see why you say that, but I'm not sure I'd agree that it does. In my view, if something good is done, it is still a good thing even if it was done for a bad reason. So, in this case, if it is Tommy trying to present as a reformed character for his own personal benefit, I don't think that detracts from the good that comes from the statements that he's made.
Unless of course it's all negated when he gets off in court, emerges triumphant and says "I was only kidding lads, lets go off and celebrate by burning a mosque down" in which case it would pretty much be a net bad.
But you wouldn't want to 'defeat' the extremist EDL anyway would you?
?
do I think that organisations that organise violent activities, intimidate communities and undertake other illegal activities have a place in society? NO, as the former leader has stated this is what was happening at EDL marches then it's pretty obvious from my posts above that I don't support them, nor do I support their political ideology
do I support the right of people to have different view from myself and if they feel the need to undertake peaceful lawful protest? YES
do I support people who disagree with a demonstration, counter demonstrating? YES
do I think people should be demonstrating or counter demonstrating in a violent manner? NO, let the police deal with the violence in accordance with the law
Sinn Fein were always a political party with a power base that would vote for them
The EDL are a protest group with no electoral mandate and no wider political aims that i am aware of so they are not identical
not identical but there are parallels. I have a distaste of any of the former paramilitaries being in power in NI
I agree it appears, at present, that the rejection of violence and intimidation by him is a good thing. He now has to walk the walk and prove it was heartfelt rather than expedientGiven his past ,ignoring EDL activity, he must have had one hell of an epiphany
I agree, it may have been the result of "education" as he met and grew to understand the British Muslim community as part of a TV documentary 😀
