Image: The EDL march lines up behind a ten-year-old banner
Paul Pitt promised Dover “the most important demo you could ever attend”. But few answered the call, and police quickly brought proceedings to an end
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The far-right “unity” demonstration in Dover (Saturday 3rd October 2026), the umpteenth such event witnessed by the long-suffering port this year, was a decidedly unimpressive affair.
It was organised, under the banner of the supposedly reanimated English Defence League, by 60-year-old far-right veteran Paul Pitt (alias Prodromou) of Basildon – known to some on the far right as “Stavros”, due to his Greek Cypriot heritage.
Warm welcome at the pub
Long before the advertised kick-off time of 3pm, a collection of ageing far-right dregs had gathered at the Golden Lion, where they received the usual warm welcome from the pub’s Ulster Unionist landlady, Olwyn Newby alias Brackenridge.
Scrappy banner
The ATT dates back nearly a decade and seems never to have consisted of much more than a name and the piece of vinyl, emblazoned with “Deport all illegals”, that took pride of place in Dover.
The scrappy old South East Alliance banner, from the hooligan faction once led by Pitt, had similarly been retrieved from retirement.
Barely 100 people turned out for what Pitt had ludicrously billed as “the most important demo you could ever attend”.
Far-right flotsam
Among the far-right flotsam were Tommy Manning of the British Security Project and representatives of various “Patriot”-branded groups.
Harry Hilden of the Kent Nationalist Movement was also spotted, alongside Kev Oliver and Caley Dowdall, although the trio kept a notably low profile.
More interesting was who stayed away. The Kent Patriots, Danny Tommo’s ‘official’ local Patriot Platform franchise, had publicly disassociated themselves from the event and from both the newly formed Dover Patriots and Kent Patriot Media, run by Folkestone “auditor” Alfie Goodey.
That fragmentation may prove significant now that Tommo is on remand and Patriot Platform has lost the man who held its loose collection of local groups together.
Confronted
The march itself went from the Golden Lion towards the Eastern Docks, heavily outnumbered by police.
They were also confronted by a sizeable anti-fascist counter-demonstration.
At the port, officers imposed a Section 14 direction and dispersed the protesters.
A belated attempt by a handful of activists to obstruct coaches at the Western Docks was quickly thwarted by Port of Dover Police.
Even one sympathetic far-right account conceded: “Dover appeared to be more cops than people.”
For Pitt’s great EDL revival, it was not much of a resurrection.
The EDL thug behind far-right ‘unity’ rally in Dover
EDL old-timer Paul Pitt is at it again in Dover, promoting a far-right “unity” march and winding up supporters for a potential “battle” with the opposition
The EDL’s zombie years have produced another resurrection. Paul Pitt – real name Paul Prodromou – who led the far-right march through Dover, assembling at Dover Priory station at 3pm.
Pitt is an over-the-hill hooligan from Basildon (of Greek Cypriot heritage) who is desperate to relive his past EDL “glories”, not least the Dover riot of 2016.
At that time he was a leading figure in the South East Alliance, an EDL splinter group, and was involved in the town’s far-right demonstrations in 2015 and 2016.
In January 2016, hundreds of fascists paraded through the town sparking violent clashes with anti-fascists.
Unfinished business
Pitt has been bombarding social media with promotion for the event, describing it as “the most important demo you could ever attend”.
He has simultaneously insisted that he has not relaunched the EDL, claiming that “I was approached and have put my support behind those that have, because I believe in them and I believe EDL has unfinished business”.
The event was promoted as a “unity” demonstration intended to bring together different factions of the far right, but failed to attract more than the reanimated dregs of the EDL.
One group which was expected to attend was the recently formed but tiny Dover Patriots, whose activists have been livestreaming migrant landings and confrontations around the port.
‘Potential battle’
The prospect of a counter-demonstration has plainly fired Pitt’s enthusiasm.
His posts have repeatedly warned supporters to expect opposition from anti-fascists, describing the coming event as a potential “battle for Dover” and accusing the left of looking to provoke violence.
This is rich given Pitt’s history; his earlier far-right activity was repeatedly associated with violent confrontations.
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