Academics characterise the English Defence League as a social movement, and more specifically as a new social movement, and a social movement organisation. In its organisational structure, the EDL has been characterised by academic observers as a direct action or street-based protest movement. It is a pressure group rather than a political party. During fieldwork with the group, Joel Busher found that many EDL members stressed the idea that the group was not a political organisation, instead presenting it as a single-issue protest group or street movement. Busher noted that these individuals were aware of the tactical advantages of doing so, believing that in presenting itself in this manner it could avoid associations both with older far-right groups like the NF and BNP and with accusations of racism. Like several other counter-jihad groups operating in Western countries, the EDL describes itself as a human rights organisation, although this characterisation is not widely accepted among the British public.
Leadership and branches
Until October 2013, the EDL was based in Luton. The EDL's structure was informal and lacking in any strict hierarchy, while it also lacked any clear leadership. In its early years, the EDL was controlled by a leadership group referred to as the "team" and which were generally secretive about their operations; they often remained anonymous or used pseudonyms. As of June 2010, this group consisted of six men, including Robinson. In the summer of 2010, the EDL went through a formal restructuring to deal with Robinson's absence. The 2010 reforms included the introduction of a code of conduct which commanded members to respect and obey the leadership, to act in a unified manner, and to be aware that any comments that they made to the press would be taken as formal EDL statements. Till October 2013, the EDL was led by Robinson and Carroll as co-leaders, supported by the regional organisers of the 19 regional divisions. EDL members were expected to take an oath of allegiance to the organisation's leadership. After that duo left the group, it was reorganised around a committee leadership which was headed by a rotating chair.
The EDL lacked a central regulatory structure through which to impose a uniform approach to strategy or maintain ideological purity throughout. It operated through a loose network of local divisions, each of which had a good deal of autonomy. Winlow, Hall, and Treadwell found that most members liked the group's "messy structure and imprecise goals" and did not want to be part of a highly structured organisation under firm leadership. The EDL divided into at least ninety different divisions, some of which are based on locality and others on specialist groups. These have included a women's division, Jewish division, Sikh division, Hindu division, and LGBT division. For a brief period it also had a disabled division, as well as a green division, and a soldiers' division. These groups are designed to raise the profile of a particular social group within the EDL itself and helping the organisation to draw in recruits from sectors of society that would normally avoid membership in a far-right grouping, such as ethnic minorities and LGBT people. In its early years it also formed a youth division, the English Defence Youth, which was led by Joel Titus; after Titus received a criminally-related anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO), preventing his further involvement in the EDL, the youth division became largely inactive.
The local groups were organised into a series of nine areas: North West, North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, East Anglia, South West, South East, South East Central, and Greater London. From the summer of 2010 onward, each of these had its own regional organiser. The EDL was heavily reliant on these grassroots networks and the initiative of local and regional leaders. Some of the local divisions covered whole cities or counties while in other cases there could be more than one division representing a single postcode, in part due to personal disputes.
Branches typically held their meeting in pubs with sympathetic owners, which are referred to as "HQs". Pilkington observed that these meetings always features alcohol consumption. Such divisional meetings were infrequent and often poorly attended. They were typically unstructured, lacking any formal agenda or the taking of minutes, and were mainly an opportunity for divisional organisers to inform members of their decisions. Sometimes guest speakers were also invited to address the audience. As well as these divisional meetings, the EDL divisions also held "meet and greet" events to attract new membership. There was no system of official membership recognised through membership cards, and no membership fees. The EDL accepted donations and local divisions sought to raise funds by selling merchandise and holding fundraising events such as barbeques.
Demonstrations
The EDL's primary activity have been street protests, which have regularly attracted media attention. Its demonstrations came in three forms: national demonstrations that attracted activists from across the country, local demonstrations featuring largely the local EDL division, and the flash demonstrations held without giving the authorities prior warning of the event. Members attending such flash demonstrations are only informed of the place and time of the protest several hours before it is due to take place. This tactic arose following attempts by the Home Office to ban various organised EDL demonstrations. Such protests included a picket outside of the family home of Member of the European Parliament Sajjad Karim, a Muslim, in July 2011.
The EDL claims that it disavows violence, and that it wants its protests to be peaceful, blaming violence on anti-fascist counter-protesters. Despite this, many of those who attend its rallies seek the thrill of violent confrontation, describing the pleasure and adrenalin rush they receive from it as a motivating factor in their attendance at the demonstrations. Some also described violent clashes as being the best way of drawing media attention to their demonstrations and their cause. Copsey argued that EDL demonstrations sought to deliberately provoke a violent confrontation from Muslim communities, which in turn would spur the government to take forceful action against British Muslims. The use of aggressive street rallies has a longer history among the British far-right. In the 1930s, the British Union of Fascists marched through areas with high Jewish populations to intimidate and provoke them, while in the 1970s the National Front employed similar tactics in areas with large non-white communities, an approach also used in the 1980s and 1990s by the British National Party till being abandoned after 1999.
In 2011, Bartlett and Littler stated their view that the EDL's largest demonstration contained between 2000 and 3000 protesters. Copsey noted that the "overwhelming majority" of attendees at EDL demonstrations are "young, white, working-class males". Although EDL demonstrations have included people of colour, in general they remain overwhelmingly white. At events, many members sought to have their photograph taken with the few Sikhs who attended, thus seeking to bolster the idea that they were not personally racist. Copsey suggested that many Sikhs who were sympathetic to the EDL were nevertheless put off from attending rallies due to an awareness that many of the EDL's white members would not be able to differentiate between Sikhs and Muslims. The events were also numerically dominated by men, with relatively few women attending. At demonstrations, speeches typically focus on the perceived threat of Islamification, but also raise issues like the dangers of political correctness and the errors of the political left. During demonstrations, the EDL have regularly been met with opposition from anti-fascist groups like Unite Against Fascism, and sometimes also from Islamic groups. The clashes between the rival groups often resulted in violence and public disorder, with the police seeking to keep the two apart.
To reach national events, local EDL groups often hired coaches to transport them to their destination; en route, they often displayed EDL flags from the coach windows. The coach provided a space in which these members engaged in singing, banter, story-telling, and practical jokes. As well as being protests, these demonstrations served as social events for EDL members, helping to forge a sense of solidarity and of the EDL as "one big family". At demonstrations, many members—including those who may be too young to legally drink alcohol—consume large quantities of alcohol. Many of these events begin and/or end at a pub, which is used as a meeting place. Some members also take cocaine prior to attending demonstrations.
EDL demonstrations were typified by continuous chanting with aggressive slogans aimed at Muslims. Pilkington divided these chants into three types: those which were anti-Islam, those which were patriotic in referencing an English identity, and those which were identity affirming in making specific reference to the EDL itself. Examples of the first category included "Muslim bombers off our streets", "No surrender to the Taliban", "Protect women, no to sharia", "If you wear a burqa you're a cunt", "You can stick your fucking Islam up your arse", "You can shove your fucking Allah up your arse", "Allah is a paedo", and "Allah, Allah, who the fuck is Allah?". Examples of the second category include "I'm England till I die", "We want our country back", and "Whose streets? Our streets!", while the third included the chant "E... E... EDL". When confronting counter-protesters from the UAF and other groups, EDL members often chanted "You're not English anymore". Alongside chants, the EDL often employed songs, including the UK national anthem "God Save the Queen", patriotic songs like "Keep St George in my Heart, Keep me English"—sung to the tune of the hymn "Give Me Joy in My Heart"—and the anti-Islam themed "There were Ten Muslim Bombers in the Air".
At the demonstrations, EDL members often displayed the English flag of St George as well as the British Union Jack; the Israeli and LGBT Pride flags were also often in attendance. As with various older far-right street organisations like the Italian Squadristi or German Sturmabteilung, the EDL had a "street uniform" that members wore in the form of wristbands, t-shirts, and hoodies bearing the group's logo. Many members also wore masks decorated with either the EDL logo or the St George's cross. Some also wore pig face masks or masks of figures whom they wished to ridicule, such as the Salafi jihadist leader Osama bin Laden. The use of the hoodie has symbolic connections with anti-social behaviour and the stereotype of the chav; it was thus selected for its intimidating atmosphere and as a reassertion of working-class status. In wearing such a uniform, the EDL seek to construct a unified political identity. Wearing this material helps to cement individual's loyalty to the group, particularly as they are likely to experience disapproval from other members of the public while wearing it. Reflecting the place of football hooligans in the EDL, some of its male members wore expensive designer clothing to its rallies, most notably Fred Perry polo shirts, jeans or combat trousers, and Adidas trainers. A number of attendees also display EDL-themed tattoos.