I wish that my first column following the recent hiatus was being written under happier circumstances.  It’s been tremendously distressing to see the disorder and downright falsehoods circulating in the past week since the Southport atrocity.

No one is excusing anything done there, but two wrongs do not make a right. Nor is it right to blame or scapegoat a whole group of people because of what has happened.  We need to allow the criminal justice system to take its course.  Such violence does not speak for me and it does not speak for decent people in Crawley.

We are lucky that we live in a diverse part of the world where people live and work together with very few issues.  As of last weekend, we were not picking up in Crawley any other disorder or hate crimes and we had a major BAME event, the Mela, in the town centre all day on Sunday without any incidents whatsoever.  That is how it should be.

We have been made aware of far right individuals potentially attempting to target somewhere locally later this week (the owners are aware) and Crawley Borough Council are in regular contact with the Police to ensure all residents are kept safe and safeguards are in place.  We support the Police and want them to be ready for every possibility.

There is no room for hate in our town and those far right hooligans travelling here to victimise innocent people are not welcome.  We are better than that as a community, as time and again we have proved.

I am in favour of an alternative gathering, held at a different time and place, that brings everyone together, but it must be done in the right way and avoid being confrontational.  It’s not cohesive on our communities to do otherwise.

But I say bluntly to anyone objecting to being called fascist or far right who supports or tries to justify these racist attacks – go and reassess what happens when rhetoric turns into violence – or if you won’t, then if the cap fits, wear it.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council