Britain First Anti-Mosque Demonstrators In Burton-Upon-Trent Told To 'Stop Being Silly' By Counter-Protest Sign

Britain First Anti-Mosque Demonstrators Told To Calm Down With Very British Sign
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Britain First demonstrators, protesting against a new mosque in a Staffordshire town, were told not to be "silly" today with this marvellous sign.

Hundreds of people marched with the far-right group through Burton-upon-Trent for around three hours this afternoon in opposition to the proposal enlarge one of the town's mosques.

But this image, shared by the Exposing Britain First Twitter account, shows what must have been the most mellow and polite sign of the day.

Such understatement was perhaps, ironically, the most British thing in the town that day.

Anti-fascism campaigners Hope Not Hate tweeted a picture of the demonstrators surrounded by police officers, which appeared to show the police outnumbering the protest.

Staffordshire Police estimated there were 210 people in total on the Britain First demonstration and 250 people on a counter-demonstration, organised by Unite Against Fascism.

Six people were arrested during the demonstration.

Two men – a 19-year-old from Northamptonshire and a 34-year-old from Derbyshire – were arrested for failing to remove face coverings when asked to do so by police officers.

An 18-year-old man from the Nottingham area was arrested for affray.

Three people were arrested for public order offences.

Chief Inspector Steve Maskrey said: “Policing protest is always a balance between protecting people’s democratic right to freedom of speech and assembly, while upholding the rights of local communities, businesses and the wider public to go about their normal business.

"Staffordshire Police have engaged with the community, partners and those taking part in the protest throughout, and as a result, I think we got that balance right today.”