Far-right extremists clashed with anti-fascists on the streets of Rochester, bringing a bitter note to the by-election campaign.
Members of Britain First, the BNP splinter group, marched in uniform to the town’s war memorial shouting incendiary anti-Muslim slogans.
They were blocked by a crowd of more than 100 people, including Labour supporters, teenage Tory activists and anti-fascist groups, hurling chants of “scum” back at them as a wall of police officers kept the two groups apart.
Former Tory MP Mark Reckless, who defected to Ukip last month, will be standing in the by-election for Ukip later this month.
Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen, also a candidate in the by-election, praised Mr Reckless's defection saying her party and Ukip had “almost everything” in common and were “almost identical in policies”. » | Laurence Dodds, video by Alice Wagstaffe | Saturday, November 01, 2014