Even non-communist left-wingers, including the publisher Victor Gollancz and the New Statesman editor Kingsley Martin, were reluctant to publish his accounts of what had happened, for fear of harming the overall cause of anti-fascism.
Anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism held a counter-protest against the EDL, which said it was against Islamic extremism in the UK, at the same event.
Unite Against Fascism said it would be holding an anti-racism demonstration to coincide with the EDL rally, and the anti-extremist group Hope Not Hate is urging the home secretary to act.