{{short description|English riots}} {{use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} On 16 October 1993, an anti-racism march near [[Welling]] in South East London turned violent, leading to large-scale clashes between police and protesters which left around 70 people injured. The march was intending to demand the closure of a bookshop which was the headquarters of the [[British National Party]] (BNP).

==Background== The BNP opened an office in a bookshop at 154 Upper Wickham Lane in Welling, South East London, in 1989,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Copsey |first1=Nigel |title=Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy |date=14 August 2008 |publisher=Springer |page=47 |isbn=9780230227859 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvyHDAAAQBAJ&q=%22154+upper+wickham+lane%22+bnp&pg=PA47 |accessdate=4 June 2018}}</ref> which served as the party's headquarters.<ref name="bennetto">{{cite web |first1=Jason|last1=Bennetto|first2=David|last2=Connett| title=Race march explodes into riot: Policeman paralysed, fighting and arrests as 25,000 head for headquarters of British National Party |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/race-march-explodes-into-riot-policeman-paralysed-fighting-and-arrests-as-25000-head-for-1511398.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/race-march-explodes-into-riot-policeman-paralysed-fighting-and-arrests-as-25000-head-for-1511398.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |accessdate=4 June 2018 |date=17 October 1993}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The local area saw a sharp increase in the number of racist attacks in the years following the opening of the office,<ref name="cox">{{cite web|url=http://socialistreview.org.uk/395/welling-1993|date=October 2014|issue=395|title=In My View: Welling, 1993|website=Socialist Review|first=Marcia|last=Cox}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-28-mn-16163-story.html|title=Racially Motivated Attacks Post Sharp Increase Throughout Britain : Hate crime: Anti-fascist groups say increased activity by right-wing groups may lead to violence.|first=Robert|last=Woodward|date=28 March 1993|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref name="buist"/><ref name="goodhew"/> including the [[murder of Stephen Lawrence]] in neighbouring [[Eltham]] in April 1993, which had caused opposition to the bookshop to intensify.<ref name="cox"/><ref name="buist"/> In the same year, the BNP had its first local councillor elected, in the [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]].<ref name="cox"/><ref name="bennetto"/>

==The march== On 16 October 1993, demonstrators gathered on [[Winn's Common]] in [[Plumstead]], South East London,<ref name="buist"/> for a demonstration co-ordinated by the [[Anti-Nazi League]] and [[Youth against Racism in Europe]].<ref name="bennetto"/> Estimates for the number of demonstrators range from 15,000<ref name="nyt"/> to 45,000.<ref name="buist"/> They planned to march to the BNP bookshop in Welling to demand its closure,<ref name="bennetto"/> but the initial route passing directly past the property was blocked by [[Metropolitan Police]] Commissioner [[Paul Condon]].<ref name="bennetto"/> The protesters left and headed towards [[Welling]], via the main road that passed through [[East Wickham]]. The march started peacefully, but as the protesters approached the bookshop, the road was completely blocked by riot police.<ref name="buist"/><ref name="nyt"/> The [[Metropolitan Police|police]] had set up a wide exclusion zone around the bookshop that began in at the bottom of the hill in East Wickham, just before the main road entered Welling.<ref name="buist"/> At this point a large police contingent of riot and mounted police tried to divert the march at an intersection with an adjourning road, away from the bookshop. Soon the protest escalated into violence, which led to large-scale clashes between the police and some of the protesters.<ref name="bennetto"/> During clashes lasting 90 minutes, police used [[Baton (law enforcement)|truncheons]] and horseback charges,<ref name="nyt"/><ref name="buist"/><ref name="cox"/> which was criticised as indiscriminate by organisers of the march.<ref name="bennetto"/><ref name="cox"/> The march was eventually abandoned.<ref name="buist">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/29/balwinder-rana-anti-bnp-march-welling-1993|title=Balwinder Rana at an anti-BNP march, Welling, 1993|first=Erica|last=Buist|date=29 January 2016|website=the Guardian}}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/17/world/london-police-battle-anti-fascist-protesters.html|title=London Police Battle Anti-Fascist Protesters|date=17 October 1993|work=New York Times}}</ref>

==Aftermath== 74 people were injured in the riots, including 12 police officers.<ref name="bennetto"/> The clashes were the most serious civil disorder in London since the [[poll tax riots]] in 1990.<ref name="bennetto"/> The [[Metropolitan Police]] spent £1 million and 7,000 officers to police the event.<ref name="nyt"/> Many of the protesters were arrested and charged,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34843/Bradford:+What+really+happened|title=Bradford: What really happened|date=14 July 2001|work=Socialist Worker|first1=Theresa|last1=Bennett|first2=Kevin|last2=Ovenden|accessdate=4 June 2018}}</ref> including [[Duwayne Brooks]], a friend of Stephen Lawrence who had been with him at the time of his murder.<ref name="cox"/> The case against Brooks was eventually dismissed by a judge.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23022634|title=Police 'spied on' Stephen Lawrence family, says Guardian newspaper|work=BBC News|date=June 24, 2013}}</ref> The bookshop in Welling was eventually closed down by [[Bexley London Borough Council|Bexley Council]] in 1995.<ref name="goodhew">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygwkDwAAQBAJ&q=bnp+welling+closed&pg=PT152|title=Church Growth in Britain: 1980 to the Present|first=David|last=Goodhew|date=15 May 2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351951616|via=Google Books}}</ref>

== External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c91z_gh0fRQ/ ITN news coverage of the event]

==References== {{Reflist|2}} {{Riots in England}}

[[Category:British National Party]] [[Category:Protest marches in London]] [[Category:20th-century riots in London]] [[Category:October 1993 in the United Kingdom|Welling riots]] [[Category:1990s political riots|Welling riots]] [[Category:1993 in London|Welling riots]] [[Category:1993 riots|Welling]] [[Category:Political riots in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1990s crimes in London|Welling riots]] [[Category:1993 crimes in the United Kingdom|Welling riots]] [[Category:Anti-fascism in the United Kingdom]]