The police in Cambridge, but not yet in Milton, have sent out the following via their ecops mailing lists relating to Saturday afternoon’s assembly by the English Defence League (EDL) on Christ’s Pieces (behind the bus station) and local Unite Against Fascism (UAF) march, which will pass Christ’s Pieces. If you are planning to go into Cambridge this Saturday you might like to bear this in mind …

Dear resident,

Plans are being finalised ahead of protests in Cambridge on Saturday (February 23).

We are working closely with Cambridge City Council and a wide range of other agencies to ensure that demonstrations planned by the English Defence League (EDL) and local Unite Against Fascism (UAF) take place safely and peacefully.

The EDL is due to hold an assembly at Christ’s Pieces between 2pm and 4pm and is not expected to hold any form of march or procession.

The UAF is due to assemble at Petersfield at around noon before marching along the following route:

East Road, Burleigh Street, Fitzroy Street, Jesus Terrace, New Square, Christ’s Pieces, Emmanuel Street, St Andrew’s Street into Sidney Street, Green Street, Trinity Street, Market Street and Market Hill, before returning along the same route to East Road but then crossing over to Norfolk Street, Gwydir Street, Mill Road, and back to Petersfield.

During an intensive period of negotiations with the event organisers, an alternative route along Christ’s Lane was opposed by the police following consultation with a range of other agency representatives at the Cambridge City Safety Advisory Group.

As a result, police placed conditions on the route of the procession using powers under Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986. Section 12 allows a senior police officer to place conditions on a public procession to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.

We are taking the planning for this event very seriously and are actively engaging with a wide range of communities and other agencies to ensure that we are fully informed of issues that may be relevant to local policing on the day.
We can assure you we will have sufficient police officers on duty and available within the community to provide a good policing level in Cambridge and ensure the protests are policed effectively.

We will have additional police officers patrolling key areas in the city centre and also in areas where people may enter and exit the city by public transport or by private car. We will have additional staff patrolling the city centre and Mill Road area into the late evening to support local businesses in the night-time economy.

At this stage we are unable to estimate the numbers of people expected to attend the protests, however, we will ensure there will be sufficient resources deployed around the city to maintain public safety and to ensure community and traffic disruption is minimised.

While those taking part in the protest in the city will be allowed to express opinion and protest peacefully, we will not tolerate violence, incitement to hatred or other criminal activity.

Anyone with information or concerns about the protests should contact police on 101.

Superintendent Vicky Skeels
Cambridge City Commander