So, Friday came and went without serious incident anywhere in Crawley. The far right protestors were vastly outnumbered – by hundreds to one – by anti-racist counter protestors.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the Police, on behalf of the council and residents, for their best efforts in protecting everyone, particularly some very vulnerable families.  Also, all the work from partners and officers at Crawley Borough Council that went into keeping people safe.

It is my hope that things will now begin to calm down.  They need to. There was never much evidence that there was any local support for the hard right protest, and so it has proved.

There were certainly lessons to be learnt from some of what was said on social media.

Some local posts appeared to be a contest on who could post the most baseless speculation or half heard rumour as fact. This caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety which could and should have been avoided.

If you haven’t read it as an official announcement by the council or on the Crawley or Sussex Police pages, or a reputable media source like the Crawley Observer or one of the broadcasters (all of who will have done their fact checks) and it seems alarming, then it may very well not be true and should be read with scepticism.

Also, bear in mind not everyone online is acting in good faith or even wants to tell you the truth. A shock, I know.

The disruption from all this was disproportionate. I found it particularly sad some businesses felt it necessary to close early that day, regardless of where they were located in relation to the protests. That’s lost income no one will be getting back. It’s also time and energy those of us running public institutions couldn’t be using to address other important matters.

We will, instead, hold a community event in the near future that brings us together to celebrate what makes us strong as a community, but last Friday wasn’t the right time for such an event.  Please support that when it happens.