On 16 October 1993, an anti-racism march near

Welling Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. ...

in South East London turned violent, leading to large-scale clashes between police and protesters which left around 70 people injured. The march was intending to demand the closure of a bookshop which was the headquarters of the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

(BNP).

Background

The BNP opened an office in a bookshop at 154 Upper Wickham Lane in Welling, South East London, in 1989, which served as the party's headquarters. The local area saw a sharp increase in the number of racist attacks in the years following the opening of the office, including the

murder of Stephen Lawrence Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 Apri ...

in neighbouring

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

in April 1993, which had caused opposition to the bookshop to intensify. In the same year, the BNP had its first local councillor elected, in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

The march

On 16 October 1993, demonstrators gathered on Winn's Common in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic counties of England, historic county of Kent and the detail of mu ...

, South East London, for a demonstration co-ordinated by the

Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...

and

Youth against Racism in Europe Youth against Racism in Europe (YRE) is an anti-racist organisation founded by the Committee for a Workers' International (the international network of the Militant tendency) it campaigns among young people in 16 countries in Europe. YRE was launc ...

. Estimates for the number of demonstrators range from 15,000 to 45,000. They planned to march to the BNP bookshop in Welling to demand its closure, but the initial route passing directly past the property was blocked by

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Commissioner

Paul Condon Paul Leslie Condon, Baron Condon, (born 10 March 1947) is a British retired police officer. He was the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1993 to 2000. Education Condon read Jurisprudence at St Peter's College, Oxford and was made ...

. The protesters left and headed towards

, via the main road that passed through

East Wickham East Wickham is a district in south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is situated north of Welling, east of Shooter's Hill, south of Plumstead, south-west of Abbey Wood and west of West Heath, and east-southeast of ...

. The march started peacefully, but as the protesters approached the bookshop, the road was completely blocked by riot police. The

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

had set up a wide exclusion zone around the bookshop that began in at the bottom of the hill in East Wickham, just before the main road entered Welling. At this point a large police contingent of riot and mounted police tried to divert the march at an intersection with an adjourning road, away from the bookshop. Soon the protest escalated into violence, which led to large-scale clashes between the police and some of the protesters. During clashes lasting 90 minutes, police used truncheons and horseback charges, which was criticised as indiscriminate by organisers of the march. The march was eventually abandoned.

Aftermath

74 people were injured in the riots, including 12 police officers. The clashes were the most serious civil disorder in London since the

poll tax riots The poll tax riots were a series of riots in British towns and cities during protests against the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), introduced by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The largest pr ...

in 1990. The

spent £1 million and 7,000 officers to police the event. Many of the protesters were arrested and charged, including

Duwayne Brooks Duwayne Lloyd Anthony Brooks (born 27 September 1974) is a former councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham. He was a friend of Stephen Lawrence and was with him when he was murdered. Early life Brooks was born in Lewisham to Jamaican paren ...

, a friend of Stephen Lawrence who had been with him at the time of his murder. The case against Brooks was eventually dismissed by a judge. The bookshop in Welling was eventually closed down by Bexley Council in 1995.

External links

ITN news coverage of the event

References

{{Riots in England British National Party Protest marches Political riots Riots in London October 1993 events in the United Kingdom