A key strategist and funder behind the English Defence League has been suspended from his management post at a major international development bank.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development suspended Alan Ayling after he was named as the EDL founder who uses the alias ‘Alan Lake’.

The powerful bank was set up by international treaty to fund development and privatisation schemes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Reveal

We can reveal that Ayling is the manager in charge of the team that runs the EBRD’s Oracle databases – a post in which he is believed to earn around £70,000 a year, plus bonuses.

He was suspended after his ‘Lake’ identity became public at the end of last year.

‘Lake’ was named in the Sunday Times in December as 57-year-old Alan Ayling, who until January 2011 was a director of City investment fund Pacific Capital Investment Management, which was wound up in August.

He lives in a plush £500,000 flat in London’s prestigious Barbican development.

Well paid

But Ayling has a well paid City job as well as his former company directorship – and his political activity as a key figure in the shadowy network of far-right and Islamophobic groups who call themselves ‘counterjihadists’.

Ayling is no stranger to multiple identities. In 2009, he told a seminar organised by leading members of the fascist Sweden Democrats party:

You’ve got to have pseudonyms, you’ve got to have, you know, five email addresses, one for your friends, one for your counterjihad, one for your really extreme counterjihad comments, and all the rest of it.

As ‘Alan Lake’, Ayling has hosted and spoken at EDL demos. He has admitted funding the EDL, telling Norway’s TV2 channel: ‘I have given some money to help some EDL things happen.’

It was at Ayling’s Barbican flat that the EDL was established in 2009, according to disaffected founder member Paul Ray.

The founding meetings brought together Lake and the counterjihadists together with Ray, Stephen Yaxley Lennon – AKA ‘Tommy Robinson’, the former BNP member who now leads the EDL leader – and his cousin Kevin Carroll.

Breivik inquiry

Ayling has also been interviewed as a witness as part of the Norwegian police investigation into the massacre by fascist gunman Anders Behring Breivik.

Although Ayling/Lake denies having met Breivik, he has admitted meeting the deeply Islamophobic Norwegian blogger ‘Fjordman’ – real name Peder Jensen – who is cited repeatedly in the manifesto issued by Breivik.

‘Alan Lake’ has described Breivik’s massacre of 76 people, mainly members of a socialist youth camp, as chickens ‘come home to roost’ on his 4Freedoms website – remarks that sparked a bust-up with EDL leaders in August.

He has also used the site to issue predictions that the UK would fragment into ‘Islamic enclaves’ in 20 to 30 years’ time and discussed the possibility of executing prime minister David Cameron, his deputy, Nick Clegg, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ayling’s employer, the EBRD, has a sensitive position as an international agency charged with a political remit to encourage democracy as well as privatisation and market development.

The database manager’s suspension comes as the bank takes steps to expand into Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco – all with mainly Muslim populations.

A spokesperson for the bank said:

The EBRD became aware of various allegations made about a member of the bank’s staff in mid December.

The bank immediately launched an investigation into these allegations. The member of staff was suspended from duties pending the outcome of this investigation. The investigation is still ongoing.

Leeds

Meanwhile, Leeds City Council has suspended Chris Knowles from his post in the children’s services department after he was identified by UAF as ‘Aeneas’, another key “counterjihadist” backer of the EDL.

We revealed Knowles was director of the well funded US-based organisation, the Centre for Vigilant Freedom, which exists to promote Islamophobia internationally.

The CVF operates as the International Civil Liberties Alliance, whose website is run by Knowles in his ‘Aeneas’ guise. Knowles coordinates the CVF/ICLA’s European work from his West Yorkshire base.

Ray names Aeneas/Chris Knowles among the clique who met to set up the EDL. And Knowles has remained an important behind-the-scenes figure and a link between the EDL, the moneyed CVF strategists and other racist and far right groups internationally.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said the authority was committed to equality and diversity and opposed to all forms of discrimination. She added that allegations against a member of staff were being taken very seriously.

A member of staff has been suspended while we undertake a thorough investigation. If there has been any breach of the council’s policies or code of conduct we will take appropriate action.

>> Download leaflet (full colour pdf)

>> Find out more about the Leicester protest against the EDL

The EDL thugs want to stir up racism and division among the city’s diverse community. But people in Leicester have already shown the EDL is not wanted in Leicester – thousands turned out to show their opposition to the EDL and in October 2010.

Now black, white and Asian people are set to show their unity against the EDL again at a ‘Love Leicester, Hate Racism’ demonstration organised by UAF in the city centre on 4 February.

Details

The protest against the EDL will assemble at 11am on Saturday 4 February at the Clock Tower, Leicester City Centre.

The antiracist, antifascist event is supported by CWU Leicestershire branch, Leicestershire County Unison, PCS Leicester and Leicestershire branch, Stoneygate Labour Party, Unite 0168M branch and Leicester District Trades Council.

Please join the protest against the EDL – bring your banners!

>> Get leaflets here

Last week, a packed public meeting heard UAF speakers, local trade unionists, community leaders, youth activists and Labour councillors urge unity against the EDL.

The two organisations are seeking to exploit a serious court case to stir up racism and division. Local people are determined to show a unified community response to the BNP and EDL.

The problems in our society will not be solved by fascists and racists.

Statement: BNP and EDL not welcome in Liverpool

The British National Party and English Defence League have announced their intention to hold a protest at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 6 February. They are exploiting a case of 11 Asian men from Rochdale who have been charged with child exploitation and sex offences, to bring their racist message to the streets of Liverpool.

We believe that this case is a matter for the police and courts. Furthermore, the BNP and EDL’s cynical exploitation of the case for its own ends, does nothing to help the suffering of victims of such abuse.

If the men involved were not Asian then it is clear that this protest would not be taking place. We believe that the BNP and EDL are using this case to attempt to whip up racism and foster division.

We call on everyone to join a dignified counter-protest at Liverpool Crown Courts. Let the racists and fascists of the EDL and BNP know that they are not welcome here.

8.30am Monday 6 February
Liverpool Crown Court
Derby Square
Liverpool L2 1XA

Signatories

Cllr Joe Anderson – Leader of Liverpool City Council
Cllr Louise Baldock – chair of equality and diversity, Liverpool City Council
Merseyside Unite Against Fascism
Liverpool Trade Union Council
Liverpool University UCU branch
Donna Davies, Unite regional officer (personal capacity)
Ian Seddon, secretary, Unite Merseyside Finance branch (personal capacity)
Merseyside Love Music Hate Racism

>> Download statement as a petition

For more information, email Liverpool UAF.

Testimony

The film Two Survivors was made with footage shot a few years ago for one of UAF’s predecessor organisations, the Anti Nazi League. It features testimony from two survivors of the Holocaust, Leon Greenman and Esther Brunstein.

The film was produced and directed by Red Saunders, one of the founders of Rock Against Racism, to tell young people about the Holocaust, after statistics appeared in the UK press showing a worrying lack of knowledge about it among the student population.

Holocaust Memorial Day

UAF supporters will be joining events around the country for Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27 January. We believe it is important to remember the reality of what it means when fascists take power – so we can redouble our efforts to drive back the fascists today.

>> More about Holocaust Memorial Day events

We would like to thank everyone involved in making this film, especially Esther and Leon for their testimony.

Leon died in 2008, after many years of antifascist campaigning with the ANL and UAF.

The north London event, under the title ‘Celebrate diversity, defend multiculturalism, oppose Islamophobia and racism’ starts at 7pm on 25 January at Finsbury Park Mosque, 7-11 St Thomas’s Road, London N4 2QH.

Mosque

The meeting is supported by Islington Trades Council, Finsbury Park Mosque, Islington Hands Off Our Public Services and Muslim Welfare House.

Hassan Mahamdallie, editor of the book Defending Multiculturalism, Islington Council leader Catherine West, Rev Jennifer Potter of Islington Inter Faith Forum and Imam Ahmed Saad of Finsbury Park Mosque will speak alongside Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) and Emily Thornberry.

They will be joined by UAF joint secretary Weyman Bennett and Mark Campbell from the NEC of the University an College Union.

>> Download a leaflet

UAF supporters will be joining events around the country to remember the Holocaust – see below for listings.

Remember

We believe it is important to remember the reality of what it means when fascists take power – so we can redouble our efforts to drive back the fascists today.

When Hitler’s Nazis came to power in Germany, they smashed working class organisations, political opposition and civil institutions – right down to the Boy Scouts – paving the way for the Holocaust.

In the Holocaust, the Nazis murdered six million Jews, along with millions of others who the fascists considered to be “undesirable” or “inferior”, including Roma people, socialists and communists, trade union members, gay men and lesbians, disabled people, black people, and non-Jewish Polish and Russian people.

The mass murder of the Holocaust was carried out on an industrial scale and has been called killing “by assembly line”, with death camps linked by the European rail network.

Today’s targets…

Today, in Britain and across Europe, fascist parties are again attempting to grow. They range from the serious electoral threat of the Front National in France to Hungary’s Jobbik, with its huge paramilitary wing. New groups such as the racist and fascist street thugs of the English Defence League have emerged.

While in the 1930s and 1940s the Nazis’ main targets were Jews, in recent years the fascists’ main targets have been Muslims and, especially in Eastern Europe, Roma people.

Holocaust deniers, such as BNP leader Nick Griffin, want to pretend the Holocaust didn’t happen and to disguise the reality of fascism. They try to pose as respectable politicians and slip into the mainstream of political life. The millions murdered by Hitler mean nothing to the likes of Griffin.

That is why events like Holocaust Memorial Day are important. We remember the Holocaust in order to learn the lessons of history and redouble our campaigning against racism and fascism today.

We cannot let Muslims, Roma or anyone else be scapegoated, isolated and murdered the way Jewish people were under the Nazis.

When we remember the Holocaust, we say: ‘Never again!’

Find out more

There are many sources of information about the Holocaust, but for a quick, concise guide with facts, figures and dates, you can view or download this very useful wallchart produced by the University and College Union (pdf file). It includes a section on resistance to fascism in more recent times.

Holocaust Memorial Day events

Here is a brief selection of events taking place on or around Holocaust Memorial Day this year. You can find a full listing on the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website. Most events are free but booking is sometimes required.

London

North London Thursday 26 January 2012, 7:30pm
Eve of Holocaust Memorial Day Meeting – Questions and Answers, with Auschwitz survivor Anita Wallfisch, Rabbi Bernd Koschland – Kindertransport and child survivor, Ulrike Schmidt from Amnesty International speaking about the threat to Roma people in Hungary, UAF joint secretary Weyman Bennett and others. Organised by UAF. Muswell Hill Library (off the Broadway), 1 Queens Avenue, London N10. Free. >> Download leaflet

East London Sunday 29 January, 3pm-6pm
With speakers Jean Lambert MEP, Weyman Bennett (UAF), Sandor Szoke (Hungarian Civil Movement), Ladislav Balaz (Roma representative and advocate, Czech Republic), Amnesty International, plus music by Pjotre Jordan & Dunajska Kapelye. Organised by Amnesty Insternational and UAF. 10 Harmony Hall, Truro Road Walthamstow, London E17 7BY. £4/£2.>> Download leaflet

>> more on these events and others in London

North East

Newcastle Sunday 29 January, 3pm
Newcastle Holocaust Memorial Commemorative Event “Speak Up, Speak Out”, with speakers Ed Vulliamy, Nerma Jelacic and Ruth Barnett, plus performance by Ouseburn Young Voices and personal testimonials from students who took part in the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project. Newcastle Civic Centre. Free, but please register.

Newcastle 27 January to 2 February
Anne Frank exhibition at Gosforth library, Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, NE3 3HD.

>> more details of these and other North East events

North West

Barrow in Furness Thursday 27 January, 7pm
Remember the Holocaust – Speak Up, Speak Out. An evening of commemoration for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, with survivor testimony and a presentation entitled ‘Sophie Scholl Fighter Against Nazism’ by Professor Frank McDonough. Speakers include John Woodcock MP. Organised by UAF. Trinity Church Centre, Warwick Street, off Abbey Road, Barrow.

Manchester Monday 30 January, 5.15pm
Speak Up, Speak Out: Survivor Story. We are honoured to welcome back Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh MBE, with special screening of a film about his life, followed by a question and answer session. Imperial War Museum North, The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, Manchester,M17 1TZ. Free, but booking required.

>> more details of these and other North West events

Yorkshire and Humber

Kirklees Tuesday 24 January, 7.15pm
Speak Up, Speak Out: Conversations in Kirklees. With Mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Eric Firth, plus Thornhill Junior School Choir and Hungarian Roma children sharing song, Ice & Fire Theatre Co presenting testimony, Holocaust survivors and Muslim students sharing stories. Huddersfield Town Hall, Ramsden Street, Huddersfield HD1 2TA. Free.

Barnsley Sunday 29 January, 6pm
Barnsley Holocaust Memorial Day Service. Speakers include Holocaust survivor Iby Knill, Dan Jarvis MP, Karen Dyson, Mayor of Barnsley, plus students from Barnsley College, Wombwell Mixed Voice Choir and a speacial guest speaker Milo Milinkovic. Barnsley Baptist Church, Sheffield Road, Barnsley S70 1JJ. Free.

>> more on these events and others in Yorkshire and Humberside

East Midands

Northampton Monday 30 January, 6.30pm
Holocaust Memorial Day Event. Performances and short presentations by children, young people and adults; candle-lighting and traditional prayers. With Lumbertubs Primary School and Northampton Youth Forum. The Great Hall, The Guildhall, St Giles Square, Northampton NN1 1DE. Free.

Derby Thursday 26 January 2012, 11.20am
Talk by Holocaust survivor Simon Winston who, as a young child with his parents and younger brother, lived on the run from the Nazis for two years. Followed by a Q&A session. Multi-Faith Centre, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby.

>> more on this event and others in the East Midlands

West Midlands

Shrewsbury Friday 27 January, 5.15pm procession, 6pm event.
Speak Up, Speak Out. Candlelight procession from Shrewsbury College of Ats and Technology, London Road to the Shirehall. The event at the Shirehall includes drama an mime by students, a Klezmer band and a Malenka singing group. Free but please book for the event as space in the council chambers is limited. Contact contact Kal Parkash on 01743 252056 or email.

Redditch Sunday 29 January
Redditch Speaks Up, Speaks Out. Annual Holocaust Memorial event.
11.30 am – Procession from Holocaust Memorial Marker, Church Green.
12 noon – commemorative event with readings and music in Worcester Square, Kingfisher Shopping Centre, Redditch. 1pm – Holocaust survivor Simon Winston tells his story – Ecumenical Centre, Evesham Walk, Redditch.

>> more on these events and others in the West Midlands

South East

Romford, Essex Thursday 26 January, 6pm
Living Memories. With Holocaust survivor George Vulkan. Gidea Park Library, Balgores Lane, Gidea Park, Romford
RM2 6BS. Free but donations requested for the London Jewish Cultural Centre.

Southampton Thursday 26 January, 6pm
Speak Up, Speak Out – Southampton Holocaust and genocide memorial event with slides and music from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and speakers, plus students from Itchen College reflect on Holocaust testimony and students from Southampton Solent University perform a short work based on the testimony of Holocaust survivor Alice Sommer. Sir James Matthews Building, Southampton Solent University, Above Bar, Southampton. Free.

>> more on these events and others in the South East

South West

Bath Thursday 26 January, 6pm
Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration, with survivor of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Professor Ladislaus Lob. Please respond to Cllr Sarah Bevan by email. Guildhall, High Street, Bath
BA1 5AW. Free.

Taunton Friday 27 January, 12.30pm
Speak up, Speak out Holocaust Memorial Day event – including readings, music, candle-lighting and the laying of a wreath. Event supported by Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Somerset College of Arts and Technology, trade union UNISON and the Church of St John the Evangelist. People of all faiths and none are welcome. The Church of St John the Evangelist, Park Street, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4DG. Free.

>>more on this event and others in the South West

East of England

Cambridge Friday 27 January, 6.30pm
With speakers Martin Bell, the former BBC war correspondent and now UNICEF ambassador and Zuza Vrbova, the daughter of Auschwitz escapee Rudolph Vrba who prouced a detailed eyewitness account of what he had seen in an attempt to warn the world. Zuza will be assisted by a group of sixth form students who have helped create an exhibition about his escape. The Guidhall, Guildhall Street, Cambridge. Free.

>> more on this event and others in the East of England

Wales

Swansea Open now, runs until 5 February 2012
Jewish Refugees in South Wales, 1933-1945. West Glamorgan Archive Service has prepared an exhibition on the history of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany who came to South Wales, and their thought-provoking, poignant but inspirational histories. In the foyer of the Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea SA1 3SN. Free.

>> more on this event and others in Wales

Scotland

Glasgow Monday 30 January, 7pm
Speak Up, Speak Out. Short film, drama production and talk by sixth year students who have visited Auschwitz. Eastwood Park Theatre, Eastwood Park, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock G46 6UG. Free.

>> more on this event and others in Scotland

Pics: Nazis round up Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, and the remains of the railway line into Auschwitz (modern photo)

The racist and fascist EDL has announced plans to come to Leicester on 4 February.

Last night’s meeting of around 170 people – white, black and Asian – showed a determination to stand up in unity against the EDL.

Banners from the East Midlands regions of the Unite and Unison unions decorated the walls of the Highfields Community Centre, where community leaders, local councillors, trade unionists and local young people came together.

They heard Sital Singh Gill, general secretary of Indian Workers Association, Priya Thamotheram from the community centre, local youth activist Az and UAF’s Simon Assaf speak from the platform, along with Councillor Lucy Chaplin, who brought greetings from Leicester West constituency Labour Party and from former council leader Ross Wilmott.

Leicester councillor and Communication Workers Union branch secretary Andy Connelly also sent a message of support.

The meeting discussed the planned counter-demonstration against the EDL.

This will assemble in Leicester City Centre on Saturday 4 February – more details to follow. The antiracist, antifascist protest is supported by CWU Leicestershire branch, PCS Leicester and Leicestershire branch, Stoneygate Labour Party, Unite 0168M branch and Leicester District Trades Council.

Speaking from the floor, councillor Patrick Kitterick told the meeting:

This is my city, these are my streets. We need to draw a line and say no further to the EDL.

Huge counter-mobilisations against the EDL in Leicester in October 2010 showed the racists and fascists were not welcome then – now Leicester is set to unite against the EDL once again to drive the message home.

UAF national officer Martin Smith, Sital Singh Gill, general secretary of Indian Workers Association, and local youth activist Az H are among the speakers at the meeting.

Details

The meeting on Thursday 19 January starts at 7pm, at Highfields Centre, 96 Melbourne Road, Leicester LE2 0DS.

In October 2010, thousands turned out to say no to the EDL and celebrate Leicester’s multiracial, multicultural mix of people.

Antifascists are determined to show that the EDL are not wanted on 4 February, when the EDL is planning to come to Leicester again.

The meeting will discuss how to bring together trade unionists and community groups from across Leicester’s diverse community to make sure the message comes accross loud and clear – the racists an fascists of the EDL are not wanted here.

Here is a selection of pictures of the lively protest, called at just two days’ notice. The antifascist demo was supported by 10 Barking an Dagenham councillors as well as trade unionists and local young people.

In contrast, the EDL dragged in followers from as far afield as Coventry and Weymouth to shore up its miserable turnout at its first event of 2012. >> Read our full report.

Pics by Kelvin Williams