Until now the English Defence League (EDL) has been very much a one trick pony, with set piece marches in areas with underlying problems in an attempt to stir up racist tensions. For the first year or so this went very well; the far right have not had much of a street presence since Nick Griffin et al withdrew due to fear of the militant left, but many of the EDL yoof are too young to remember the kickings their ideological forebears received. Initial successes up north brought some of the old guard out of the closet, buoyed by a lack of physical opposition they dusted off their steelcapped boots and bolstered the EDL's ranks.

Things were never going to last though. Numbers began to drop for a variety of reasons, some of the flag waving nationalists were put off by the more extreme racism of their colleagues, others left for the opposite reason – frustrated by a lack of overt racism (at least officially) they either formed a splinter group or retreated to their bunker. The police, who had initially been fairly hands-off, began to become a more oppressive influence on demos – kettling, pre-emptive arrests and restrictive bail conditions became the norm (welcome to world of protesting guys). Even those that stayed loyal had begun to question the wisdom of increasingly ineffective mass action and a lack of political depth.

So, where next? Smaller scale violence against anything left-wing has been the first resort of many. So far this has seen attacks on Occupy camps – though this is only because they are the most visible and vulnerable form of organising, it could be your picket, social centre or info-stall next. While this might keep the rank-n-file content for a while it doesn't add any political clout to what is still just a bunch of drunk racists looking for a fight. EDL leader and former BNP activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon's ill conceived solution has been to announce he is joining the British Freedom Party (think BNP with less members) and encourage others to do the same.

The BFP have welcomed this with open arms – even with the BNP haemorrhaging support and money the BFP have struggled to make an impact since forming last year. Apparently “this is an opportunity for EDL members to move over to BF and for the first time provide input and promote the views of the British working class within a British political party. The EDL will utilise their divisional structure to support British Freedom.” In other words: 'EDL give us working class foot soldiers, we provide middle class leaders to tell them what to do'.

Whether this unholy alliance will make the EDL/BFP a greater threat or merely hasten their demise as they become embroiled in a war with the BNP remains to be seen. Whatever happens though, antifascists need to continue organising to counter what can still be a real threat to both minorities and activists.