Musicians Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip have come out in support of Love Music Hate Racism. The duo are calling for music fans to join us in Bradford on Saturday 28 August at a unity event against the racist English Defence League (EDL) who plan to march there.

The event is called by our sister organisation Unite Against Fascism in Bradford and details can be found HERE

LMHR musicians and supporters will be taking part in the We Are Bradford event, more details to come…

Please see the statement from Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip in full below:

Recently an active member of the “English Defence League” Facebook group created a video promoting their proposed protest in Bradford.

Frustratingly for us he decided to use a song by Scroobius Pip and I as the soundtrack. LoveMusicHateRacism have given us the opportunity here to make it clear that we are deeply offended by this use of our music, as the EDL do not represent our view of the Muslim faith or Britain.

The song in question is titled “Stake A Claim” and Scroobius Pip wrote the lyrical content as homage to the French peoples ability to drive activism and ensure that every voice is heard by their political administration. As the UK general election approached not long after its release, the song has become (to us) about standing up for our beliefs and taking part in society to create change, not just railing against it. We, the British People, may not have been able to collectively agree on who should run this country, but by standing up we ensured that the BNP’s political voice was silenced in the UK. With the help of our fans, Youtube and PIAS Distribution we have managed to get the video taken down, but that doesn’t excuse its creation in the first place.

I am not going to attack the EDL here, I am sure LMHR and Unite Against Fascism can provide far better informed discussion of the problems around the EDL, than a D-list Music Producer and his bearded poet friend can. However I would like to say this.

I firmly believe in pluralism. If an individual is happy to abide by the laws of this land, and is willing to take part in this society, they should be welcome to do so. Our multicultural nation is strengthened by its diversity and although we may not always agree with each other, it is the debate that these disagreements create which will move us forward as a nation.

It is my belief that the EDL’s focus on Muslim extremism is truly divisive. This may be an obtuse statement but as many people outside of Islam do not understand the faith, so screaming “Muslim extremism is evil” just equates to “Muslim’s are evil” in many people’s heads and, with that ignorance in mind, it would not be difficult to suggest that campaigning against a particular faction within a religion will lead to fear of the religion as a whole.

It is an understandable emotion to desire action against people who threaten to murder and maim, but the extremist, Jihadist element of Islam is the utter minority. We do not alienate the Catholic faith as a whole for its problems with paedophile priests, so why should we attack Islam because a faction within them turned to terrorism?

So this is for Scroobius Pip and myself to show our support to LMHR, UAF and We Are Bradford who, on the 28th of August, will be taking part in a peaceful multicultural celebration in Bradford City Centre, at the same time and as a reaction to an EDL demonstration in that city.

Your support will allow the anti-fascist movement to show, not only the EDL, but all racist & fascist groups in the UK that we as a nation are proud to be a myriad of different ideas, beliefs & colours.

cheers,
dan le sac (& Scroobius Pip)