The EDL In 2014: Has Tommy Robinson's Departure Spelt The End?

If the future of the EDL looked grim in January 2013, with its founder Tommy Robinson jailed for immigration offences, and its co-leader Kevin Carroll arrested on racial hatred allegations, 2014 is looking even bleaker.

Twelve months on, both men have left the beleaguered organisation, in a highly-publicised departure with the facilitation of the Quilliam Foundation and a BBC documentary. But the organisation's demise could have come sooner, had it not been for one key factor, the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich.

The killing, in broad daylight near Rigby's army barracks, gave Robinson, aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a new impetus. In dire financial straits and concerned about neo-Nazi elements in his midst, the EDL leader had wanted a way out for some time, say those close to matter.

Matthew Collins, an activist with anti-fascists Hope Not Hate, and a former member of the National Front, says he has never been convinced by Robinson's "road to Damascus' moment. And he should know.

"Prior to Lee Rigby's murder, the EDL was finished. It was physically dead. Lennon had absolutely no interest, he was worried about going to prison.

"The EDL had radicalised people, however, people who thought they had no way of expressing what they didn't like. So 2,500 people came out in Newcastle after Lee Rigby's murder.

"There was no such response to 7/7. But neither was there much of a response from the Muslim community. Now, within minutes of the murder, there was a coherent, strong voice from the Muslim community condemning the murder. People were more aware that the far-right, EDL would try and capitalise on it," Collins says.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/21/edl-finished-in-2013-tommy-robinson_n_4316813.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

There is no strong leadership which is why the EDL will splinter further and disintegrate to be honest and this is a fair article on the heart of the matter