Late Saturday afternoon I popped into Waterstones in Birmingham to check no one had bought any copies of Hard Evidence since I last looked (they hadn't), and when I came out there were lines of police officers with riot shields stopping anybody from getting through. Turns out I was slap bang in the middle of a stand off between the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism. It was quite scary.
Next thing I know there's an angry crowd of Muslims with face masks on throwing missiles at the police! Fortunately a kindly security guard let me and a few other innocent bystanders shelter in their shop until the police started letting civilians out.
