Far-right to attempt surprise Liverpool return

Far-right groups are set to return to the city of Liverpool on Saturday in a surprise protest only made public this morning. Anti-fascist groups had been led to believe the far-right protest would take place in the nearby city of Manchester, although exactly details had not been released.

The protest is being organised by 34 year-old Blackburn resident Shane “Diddyman” Calvert (below), organiser for the North West Infidels (NWI) who split from the English Defence League (EDL) in 2011. Other groups backing the protest include the South East Alliance (another EDL splinter), neo-Nazi youth group National Action (NA) and far-right Polish football hooligans.

Shane Calvert posing with a Combat 18 flag in Dover last September

Exact details of where in Liverpool the far-right protest will be held are going to be posted on the Facebook event at 1:30pm, half an hour before the protest is due to start. Many far-right activists are likely to have been informed of the location already through private communications.

Possible locations for the protest include the Pier Head, Lime Street station and the Unite the union offices on Churchill Way. All of these were visited by NA in November when they held a flash mob in the city. This came several months after they were utterly humiliated by anti-fascists and prevented from holding a 'White Man March' from Lime Street to the Pier Head.

Saturday's protest is believed to have been organised as a response to that humiliation which far-right groups faced back in August 2015. Calvert and other key activists from NWI were in the small group of neo-Nazis who were forced to cower in Lime Street station's lost luggage, before being rushed out of the city by the police for his own safety.

The Polish football hooligans participating in the protest are believed to be linked to the group who were responsible for attacking a music festival in Tottenham's Marksfield Park back in June 2014. If they join the protest it is set to be the first time people close to that group have participated in British far-right street activity. Up until now the only Polish presence in UK far-right activities has been the boneheads from the openly neo-Nazi National Rebirth of Poland (NOP).

But the presence of Poles has not been entirely welcomed by the far-right. NOP were banned from attending the protest in Dover last September by the National Front, for being Polish. There is a 13 page thread on neo-Nazi bulletin board Stormfront in which users argue over whether or not Polish hooligans should be allowed to join up with the NWI protest.

National Action's convicted sex offender in Newcastle earlier this year

Another contentious figure on the far-right believed to be attending is Ryan Fleming (above), the Leeds based convicted sex offender and Ian Brady fanboy who has recently joined NA. Despite being jailed for 26 months and having to sign the sex offender's register, NA are sticking by Fleming. He submitted a 17-year old boy to a “degrading and humiliating” ordeal where he was tied up, stripped and then sexually assaulted. NA leader Ben Raymond, who is set to give a speech at the protest in Liverpool, described Fleming's actions as the “folly of youth” while defending him on Stormfront.

Anti-fascist have responded to the change of location by calling on anti-fascists to assemble in Liverpool, keeping an eye out for announcements on the day. Posting on Facebook the Anti-Fascist Network said: “The [NWI] have moved their demo from Manchester to Liverpool tomorrow. Apparently they've realised they don't have the numbers to announce a demo and just do it without getting shut down, so they have to resort to last-minute changes.

“The nazis haven't announced where in Liverpool they're meeting yet, but keep an eye on this event for the latest info. Last time they came to Liverpool all they saw was the inside of the left luggage department, so maybe they're hoping to see some of the sights they missed out on.”