HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pegida UK was an anti-
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
group in the United Kingdom established by Tommy Robinson in 2016. It is named after the German group Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident, in German ''Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes'' (Pegida)). Following one attempted "Pegida UK" march in London in summer 2015 by ex-
English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...
(EDL) members, a second launch of the group was conducted on 4 January 2016 in a pub in
Toddington, Bedfordshire Toddington is a large village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is situated 5 miles north-north-west of Luton, north of Dunstable, south-west of Woburn, and 35 miles north-north-west of London on the B5120 ...
, by Tommy Robinson. On the day of the launch, he stepped down to the role of "adviser".
Paul Weston Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the ...
(the chairman of a specific political group,
Liberty GB Liberty Great Britain or Liberty GB was a minor far-right British nationalist political party founded and led by Paul Weston that described itself as "counter-jihad". Liberty GB was anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and traditionalist. The group's ...
) was named leader and
Anne Marie Waters Anne Marie Dorothy Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a far-right politician and activist in the United Kingdom. She founded and led the anti-Islam party For Britain until its dissolution in 2022. She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an or ...
(chairman of Sharia Watch) was named as a third member of Pegida UK's management team. Robinson said that he hoped Pegida UK would be different from the EDL, that it would attract a more "middle-class" demographic, and would discourage the "loutish behaviour and alcohol-fueled violence" of the EDL. Robinson seeks a halt to Muslim immigration, the closure of
sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
courts, a ban on the wearing of the
burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
and a moratorium on mosque construction. Pegida UK's launch event was a march in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
on 6 February 2016. It drew a crowd of approximately 200, fewer than the Pegida UK attempt of 2015, with a smaller counter-demonstration also taking place. By the end of 2016, the group had essentially disappeared. Its leading management had all moved on to other projects. Robinson soon after joined the Canadian right-wing news channel
Rebel Media ''Rebel News'' (also known as ''The Rebel Media'' and ''The Rebel'') is a Canadian right-wing to far-right political and social commentary media website operated by Rebel News Network Ltd. It has been described as a "global platform" for the a ...
. Weston went back to focusing on his political party Liberty GB, which then dissolved in order to join forces with Waters'
For Britain The For Britain Movement was a minor far-right political party in the United Kingdom, founded by the anti-Islam and "counter-jihad" activist Anne Marie Waters after she was defeated in the 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election. Hist ...
party. Pegida UK was not the group's only failure. Originating in Dresden, Germany, it had been trying to expand across the continent. In 2016, Pegida launch attempts failed to take off in Switzerland, Ireland, France, Austria, Denmark and Estonia.


References

{{Pegida Anti-Islam sentiment in the United Kingdom Political organisations based in the United Kingdom 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom