Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Leeds to express their contrasting views on immigration at the weekend.
Organizations like Women Against the Far and Leeds for Europe held a counter-protest against Stand Up Leeds, an anti-immigration campaign group.
The pro-immigration groups were located at Leeds Art Gallery, while the anti-immigration group were told by police to march from Leeds City Museum.
During the protests, music was played at Leeds Art Gallery by different bands and rappers to drown out the chants from the other side.
James Banning, an organizers for Stand Up to Racism, said: “It’s something [the music] that we do to make sure that [we’re] living up to the ideals of Rock Against Racism of the 70’s and try and bring it to the modern day to show that anti-racism is the actual culture in music and everything is fun. Not the other way round”
Source: Om Kumar | All Rights ReservedHe added: “We as a country are stronger through unity and that we need to recognise that our entire history is tied to immigration. England has always been a country of immigrants from [the] very start of [its] day.
“We talk about Anglo-Saxons, the Saxons weren’t English, there were from Germany. Everyone from the Danes, Vikings, ect. England has always been a very multi-cultural country (…) it is really important for us to remember that we’re stronger together, not divide. “
Concerns about ‘increasing’ anti-immigration protests
The protests in Leeds city center comes after a series of anti-immigration demonstrations that took place over England in recent weeks, including some by masked “blackshirt” groups men in Portsmouth and Dover.
Eman Abdura Hman Sayed, a protester, said: “Around here, it’s been increasing. I keep hearing about different far-rights groups, whether it’s Reform or Restore organizing some sort of demonstration or rally. Last week, we had to call an immediate counter-protest for a Restore group coming [here]. There here again, this week.
Source: Om Kumar | All Rights Reserved“They’ve obviously been increasingly [more] confident and mobilizing, as they have been wearing blackshirts in Portsmouth and Dover. So, it feels like they’re trying to gain more of a street presences, which we’re here to say: ‘get out’.”
They added: “It [the protests] will probably be continuous. As long as the economy has still pushed people to the brink and people basic needs aren’t met, there will be extreme anger manifesting in radicalism and the far right. So, we will be there as long as they are there.
“And we’ll also be there afterwards.”
A matter of “respect”
A spokesperson from Stand Up Leeds, said: “The protest went well. We are pleased with how the day went and with the people who came along to make our voices heard.”
They added: “We believe people should be able to raise concerns about illegal migrations, border security, public safety and the direction our country is heading without automatically branding us racists.
“Our aim was to bring like-minded people together peacefully and give people an opportunity to express their concerns. People are entitled to disagree with us, and we respect their right to demonstrate peacefully, just as we expect others to respect ours.”