the RESPECT party

The decision to prevent the EDL from marching in Tower Hamlets on 3 September will be welcomed by all right-thinking people.

However the terms on which the Home Secretary's ban has been imposed and the reasons provided for the ban are not acceptable. The Home Secretary, acting on advice from the Met Police, has banned all marches for 30 days from 2 September in Tower Hamlets on the grounds that the cost of policing will be too high.

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right, as is the right to protest. In particular, we should have the right to march in Tower Hamlets to uphold the fundamental, democratic principles of cultural diversity and religious and racial tolerance.