Whilst more and more lights are shone on the EDL and its affiliates, we believe that the future may give these far-right organisations more oxygen, as economies weaken in Europe. More than ever, the voices of reason within faith communities are needed and there is a need for all of us to report faith-hate crimes where we see them.
The British protests against Rushdie's novel and these more recent protests are commonly understood in terms of the free speech versus religious offence argument. But it is important to think beyond this limiting binary to attain a greater degree of intercultural understanding in twenty-first century Britain.