Pegida UK

Pegida United Kingdom
Formation 2015 (attempted)
4 January 2016 (official)
Founder Tommy Robinson
Founded at Toddington, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Purpose Anti-Islam
Stop Islamisation
British nationalism
Leader
 Paul Weston
Anne Marie Waters
Adviser
 Tommy Robinson
Affiliations Fortress Europe[1]
Tommy Robinson at a Pegida rally in Utrecht on 11 October 2015

Pegida UK is an anti-Islam organisation in the United Kingdom that was established by Tommy Robinson. It is named after the German group Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident), in German Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (Pegida)).[2]

Following one attempted 'Pegida UK' march in London in the summer of 2015 by ex-English Defence League (EDL) members, a second launch of the group was conducted on 4 January 2016 in a pub in Toddington, Bedfordshire by Tommy Robinson. On the day of the launch, he stepped down to the role of "adviser". Paul Weston (the chairman of a specific political group, Liberty GB) was named leader and Anne Marie Waters (chairman of Sharia Watch) was named as a third member of Pegida UK's management team.[3][4]

Robinson said that he hoped Pegida UK would be different from the EDL,[5] that it would attract a more "middle-class" demographic, and would discourage the "loutish behaviour and alcohol-fueled violence" of the EDL.[6] Robinson seeks a halt to Muslim immigration, the closure of sharia courts, a ban on the wearing of the burqa, and a moratorium on mosque construction.[6]

Pegida UK's launch event was a march in Birmingham, on 6 February 2016. It drew a crowd of approximately 200, fewer than the Pegida UK attempt of 2015, with a smaller counter-demonstration also taking place.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Gutteridge, Nick (28 January 2016). "Anti-Islam groups launch Europe-wide coalition pledging to defend 'Western civilisation'". Daily Express. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Lowe, Josh (5 February 2016). "Pegida U.K.: What does Tommy Robinson's 'Anti-Islam' group want?". Newsweek. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Parris-Long, Adam (4 January 2016). "Tommy Robinson hands over Pegida UK leadership to former Luton South parliamentary candidate Paul Weston". Luton Today — Luton News Herald & Post. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Hamdi, Omar (23 December 2015). "As a Muslim comedian, I found having dinner with ex-EDL leader Tommy Robinson strange but enlightening". Independent. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Bartlett, Jamie (4 December 2015). "Across Europe with Tommy Robinson: inside the new wave of anti-immigration protest coming soon to Britain". Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 Goldberg, Adrian (29 January 2016). "Tommy Robinson: The man behind the British version of Pegida". BBC News. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Day, Harvey (7 January 2016). "Tommy Robinson's Pegida UK group to be kept OUT of Birmingham city centre". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Halliday, Josh (6 February 2016). "Pegida UK supporters stage anti-Islam silent march in Birmingham". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
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