JUST weeks after the government barred Dutch politician Geert Wilders from entering the country because he was perceived as a threat to public order, British troops returning from Iraq went marching today into the Muslim enclave of Luton in Bedfordshire – and almost sparked a riot.
Some of the 'magic carpet' crew who turned out to abuse British troops
The homecoming march troops from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment was marred by ugly scenes as Muslim anti-war protesters hurled abuse at the parading soldiers.
Around 20 men in Islamic dress yelled “terrorists” and held placards denouncing the soldiers as “butchers of Basra”, “cowards” and “baby killers” as they marched through Luton in Bedfordshire.
Other signs described the 200 men and women as “criminals, murderers terrorists”.
The atmosphere further deteriorated when locals waving St George’s flags turned on the protesting group chanting “scum” and “no surrender to the Taliban”.
Officers and dog handlers were drafted in to keep the sides apart and, according to this report, five people were arrested for public order offences.
A police spokesman said the arrested men were members of the crowd watching the march, rather than the protesters.
Luton’s Mayor Councillor Lakhbir Singh said:
The Royal Anglian Regiment was given freedom of the town some years ago and we are proud to welcome them back.
As the parade finished in St George’s Square in front of the Duke of Gloucester, police had to force the protesters into a small area reserved for them at the town’s Arndale Shopping Centre.
Muslim women dressed head to toe in burkhas watched the clashes and took photos on mobile phones
A Government report warned in November that Luton was one of the main centres of Islamic extremist activity in Britain, alongside London and Birmingham.
It said:
The majority of extremists are British nationals of south Asian, mainly Pakistani, origin but there are also extremists from north and east Africa, Iraq and the Middle East, and a number of converts. The overwhelming majority of extremists are male, typically in the 18-30 age range.
The main extremist concentrations are in London, Birmingham, with significant extremist networks in the South East, notably Luton.
The town achieved notoriety when it emerged that the four bombers who blew up 52 people on the London Underground on July 7 2005 had congregated at Luton train station before heading to King’s Cross.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 11th, 2009 at 12:02 am
“A police spokesman said the arrested men were members of the crowd watching the march, rather than the protesters.”
That’s right. Arrest the non muslims. Leave the muslims alone. Can’t arrest them. That would be racist and islamophobic.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Silly question, perhaps, but was this really about religion? If most of these protesters are from the Middle East, it seems like they might well have family there. That being the case, is it really surprising to find out that they might not be big fans of major military involvement in some of their hometowns?
March 11th, 2009 at 4:00 am
“Muslim enclave of Luton in Bedfordshire”
Hard to imagine. Poor old Eric Morecambe must be turning in his grave.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Mad, murderous muslims.
If they don’t like it here they can leave.
Ex-Aussie prime minister John Howard got it right.
How dare they abuse an army that keeps their insane world an arms length away from us infidels. Pity the parading troops weren’t equipped with batons to beat some respect into their flabby, diabetic mohammedan arses.
I wouldn’t employ a muslim. Ex-servicemen are always welcome.
March 11th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Another shocking instance of the way decent, hardworking Muslims are persecuted in our society. They’re not allowed to kill British troops on our streets and have to content themselves with shrieking abuse from the sidelines. They weren’t even provided with things to throw by Luton social services – a shocking oversight. Perhaps we should start a collection for the poor moppets, so next time they can have a decent supply of Molotov cocktails?
March 11th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I wonder how many of the protesters, exercising their right to free speech in Luton, would allow others to criticise Islam, the Koran, Mo, etc, etc.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I’ve just got a t-shirt with a picture of a teddy bear with the slogan mohammed on it. I’ll wear it tonight and see how far I get.
The government in this country are cowards and should send the ones who do not want to intergrate back. The rest are very welcome.
March 11th, 2009 at 10:37 am
That protester’s spelt Anglican wrong. If you’re going to protest, at least ensure your placards have correct spelling and grammer. That’s the British way!…
D’oh. That’s actually spelt right. Ignore me.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
I may not have agreed with the war in principle, I do however believe that soldiers deserve a little respect for the job that they do. Also if Islam really was this religion of peace and other such crap, then the powers that be would not have been able to find justification for waging war in the middle east in the first place.
Also comedy beards on ridiculous ignorant men make me laugh a lot ho ho ho! Just exercising my freedom of speech!
March 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Rozi
“That protester’s spelt Anglican wrong”
I think he turned up at the wrong place. Looks like a double glazing salesman to me.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
More messages of peace and love from the “official” religion of peace…
Once again the perpetually offended got offended again, how dare the dhimmis and infidels parade around and welcome their soldiers, how dare the infidels even live close to them!
March 11th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
@Rozi;
Lol! Your post reminded me of a picture I saw of a mo’ham-head follower protesting against Israel. He had a placard which read ‘death to all juice’!
Sometimes I really think we give these animals more credit for intelligence than is deserved.
I loved the quote from the Mail’s report that one man threw bacon at the protesters from the top of the Arndale Centre. Class!
March 11th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
We may find the opinions objectionable but we must protect their rights to free speech.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Lutonistan. Home of big beards and microscopic minds.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Tony
Lutonistan does have one redeeming feature.
The airport.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:24 am
@Threefinker: I think that placard was really meant to be said “juice”, because, perhaps today he would still be jailed for calling the death of jews(I mean still because on todays world, we seem to appease muslims more than normal, so I think that if he had written “jews” nothing would have happened to him and he would be praised, if it did happen something – unlikely, as I said, on the world today -, there would be massive cries of racism, islamophobia and lawsuits coming from CAIR and muslims)
March 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Curly, I’m with you on this one – their views are objectionable but in this country people have the right to protest peacefully. As I understand it they stopped (just) short of inciting violence so they did not break the law.
We shoudl not fall into the same trap as they have of trying to silence them because we disagree with them.
Of course these people do not appreciate the irony of them being allowed to make their protest. They would of course outlaw free speech and have us live in a totalitarian theocratic society.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Pat Condell has just posted a vid on his website about this very matter. He is not a happy bunny.
And once again I am in full agreement with what he says.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I once saw a picture of a bunch of these bearded retards on a protest and one placard read:
“Freedom of expression
go to hell”
They really don’t get how comical they can be!
I don’t agree with those of you who want to protect their right to free speech though. These people should be kicked out of the country and our borders should be closed to them. This is not a question of free speech. These people want to take over our land and force us to accept islam, or at least those of us they haven’t executed. This is not about wining an argument, it’s not a debate. It’s a matter of national security. These people need dealt with and soon!