FAITHS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT CLOSER

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Faiths have been brought closer

As a newcomer to Leicester I have been impressed by the way communities get along together, and as the Director of the St Philip's Centre, excited by the togetherness of the faith leaders when they face common concerns.

Today's planned English Defence League (EDL) demonstration has brought us even closer together recognising that an attack on one faith is an attack on all. Our common message is that what the EDL stand for is not welcome here.

In a time of economic pressures on households and public bodies, it is sad to see so much local money having to be spent to protect people and property because the EDL's record is that they cause mayhem wherever they go. Surely, alongside their right to speak and demonstrate comes the responsibility of citizenship. Will the EDL be refunding the hard working tax payers of Leicester?

Failing this, will they at least be respectful, orderly and peaceful when they visit? We shall see.

Tomorrow St Philip's Centre is entering an inter-faith team in the Leicester Marathon for the first time. It is this kind of event which truly reflects our wonderful multi-faith city, not the discordant presence of the EDL.

Canon Dr John Hall, Leicester

LEICESTER SPEAKS: 2

At Leicester Adult Education College, Wellington Street, this morning for the latest meeting of the group planning Leicester Speaks - our city's iteration of Local Democracy Week. This morning we're concentrating on the Big Launch and promotion of the event. Smaller number today, but everyone has something strong and positive to contribute. As well as Parmjit Basra, from Leicester City Council Adult Skills and Learning Service, who is leading the project, there's Jiten Anand and Shakti Sharma (TouchRainbow Productions), Ted Cassidy (Head of Partnerships, De Montfort University; Chair, Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre), Bez Killeen (Active Involvement Youth Worker, Leicester City Council) and Kate Merrett (Office and Projects Manager, LeicestHer Day Trust)

The website is well advanced (though will be getting a major overhaul in the week ahead), a brochure has been designed (which will bear the Council of Faiths logo alongside those of other stakeholders and partners) and we discussed some other promotional materials to reach as wide a range of people as possible. We talked about a launch event too, though I won't spill the beans on that right now. Suffice to say that our launch would come on the third day in a row that the city centre will have been used as the site for some public event (proposed demonstration by the English Defence League on Saturday 9, Leicester Marathon on Sunday 10).

All I'll say just now is that the launch of Leicester Speaks will surely be the smallest of these and should cause much less disruption.