On Monday 6 February, the British National Party and English Defence League will be holding concurrent demonstrations outside Liverpool Crown Court.

These demonstrations are in response to the court appearance of 11 men from Rochdale, accused of operating a child sex ring. The crime they are accused of is a despicable one, and we will shed no tears if they are jailed for a very long time. Yet the far-right is demonstrating here because they happen to be of Asian origin.

The fascists are exploiting the abuse of children to promote their nationalist agenda. They claim that Asians and Muslims are more likely than any other group to abuse children and that there is a media blackout to cover up this fact. But how do they propose to change things? If there is less coverage of the issue than is deserved, it is precisely because the far-right use it to stir up racial and religious hatred. They use such horrific incidents to turn people against entire communities.

The vast majority of those arrested for sex crimes in the UK are White British. In the past year, the world’s attention has been drawn to the scandal of widespread child abuse by Catholic priests. Where was the fascists’ demand that the “white community” or “Christian community” be held accountable for these crimes? The fact is, they only show their face when they can pin the issue on Asians and Muslims.

These crimes are not an attack on white people by muslims or Asians, but on vulnerable children by sexual predators. Abuse of children is an indescribably revolting crime, whoever commits it. Racist spin won’t save children from abuse, and nor will the sick opportunism of the EDL.

Don’t let fascists exploit child abuse for political gain.

Oppose the BNP and EDL – assemble by the Victoria Monument, Derby Square, from 8.30am on Monday 6 February.