ISLAM4UK promised a march through Wootton Bassett with demonstrators carrying 500 coffins to symbolise the Muslim victims of the war in Afghanistan. It then called it off, saying it had “successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan”.

More likely it couldn’t muster enough supporters to carry five coffins, let alone 500; but it still got all the publicity it wanted.

The same people were behind last year’s abusive demonstration against the Anglian Regiment in Luton.

They leafleted Luton’s 20,000 Muslims the weekend before, and attracted about a dozen.

Was it sensible to ban this little bunch of lunatics? They will presumably go underground and continue to broadcast their vile propaganda on the internet and by distributing literature, CDs and tapes. It might have been better to leave them to operate in public where they can make fools of themselves and get themselves arrested when they break the law.

Five of the Luton protestors have just been convicted of public order offences, and the ones who carried the notorious “Behead those who insult Islam”

placards outside the Danish Embassy in 2006 were jailed for soliciting murder.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.