As you are probably aware, a devastating attack occurred in Norway yesterday, with dozens of people losing their lives, including many young people. In the coordinated attack, two cars filled with nitrate fertiliser detonated and caused severe damage to governmental and media buildings in the capital city, Oslo. As chaos ensued with rumours of further bombs that hadn’t yet detonated, a man dressed as a policeman stormed a youth holiday camp, on the nearby island of Utoya, shooting indiscriminately at young people enjoying their holidays. At the time of writing, 94 innocent people have sadly had their lives taken away, with that figure unfortunately set to rise further.

We delayed releasing anything regarding this attack, until the details were clear and we could report on the facts as we always do. Many news outlets were instantly reporting on all sorts of rumours, instilling fear amongst the local population, with many rumours and contradictions still circulating, which we believe is not morally acceptable.

The exact reasons for this cowardly act are still, as yet, unknown but a Norwegian national has been arrested and is being questioned. And it is believed that he could hold extreme far-right beliefs and was angry because of Norway’s very lax policy on immigration.

Sickeningly, we have quickly seen far-left groups opportunistically hijack this dreadful tragedy for political gain and to lie about other groups, such as ourselves. The NDL has already denied that the suspect had any links to their group, and vehemently opposes his actions, as do we at the English Defence League. Terrorism and extremism of any kind is never acceptable and we pride ourselves on opposing these. The accusation that the EDL could have anything to do with this horrible event, is libellous and incorrect in every way possible. We strongly oppose extremism and always reject any suggestion of us being either extremists or far-right, due to our great past record of dealing with anyone who holds such extremist views.

Be it the arrested man or the Islamic terrorist group Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, who claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that Norway’s involvement with NATO forces and the Norwegian press re-printing cartoons of Mohammed, were the reasons for the attack. Whoever is responsible and whatever the reasons behind it, the murder of innocent people can never be justified. Such acts are utterly deplorable and it is difficult to comprehend why anyone would want to do such a thing and believe their cause to be so important. One thing is evident from this attack and that is that the group or individual behind the attack was unhappy with the serving Prime Minister, for varying reasons and decided to voice their discontent through violent actions.

There are ways and means of getting your message out and airing your grievances legally and this is something the EDL have always been committed to and will always remain committed to. While peacefully protesting may not get instant recognition or results, it is imperative that we continue to oppose extremism of all kinds, whether it be far-right extremism, Islamic extremism Christian extremism or Jewish extremism, it is all unacceptable and deserves to be wholly condemned.

In this country, we still see the most credible threat of terrorism and source of mass murder remaining with Islamic extremists. Yesterday’s tragic events are an alarming eye opener as to what could happen within our own shores if we are not careful and don’t clamp down on groups and individuals that express extremist beliefs. Be it Islamic or Far-Right extremist views.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Norwegian people, especially the victims, their families and anyone who witnessed the horrific scenes of yesterday.

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