IF you’d seen what I saw, the last doubt you had about the real purpose of the English Defence League invading our town last Saturday would have gone in a flash.

Thirty or so EDL thugs running from the shopping centre to go into the mainly Asian area of Whalley Range.

It took mounted police officers, and a large group of officers on foot and in vehicles, to head them off.

Had there not been such a large and well-organised police presence I dread to think what the consequences would have been.

For sure, the EDL would have got what they came for – serious trouble, extensive national publicity – and great damage to the town’s reputation.

In the event, the day was a PR disaster for the EDL.

Credit for what happened (and did not happen) must go first, and above all, to the Lancashire Police.

Second, to the organisers of the multi-faith counter-demonstration who were determined to ensure that folk were not provoked by the EDL.

But there’s a much wider point. Both the police, and the counter-demonstration organisers, had a solid foundation on which to build.

Often unseen, and unsung, there’s been a sustained effort over the years better to bring the two sets of communities in the borough together.

Every day last week, whilst the town was being turned into a fortress, the ‘Discover Communities’ Group were running a series of conferences at King George’s Hall to build better relations across the different faiths and heritages.

1,500 children from nine of the borough’s 12 major secondary schools attended during the course of the week.

Some were from mainly Asian schools, some from mainly white schools, some from mixed.

They came together to learn about and from each other – and from two former terrorists (from opposite sides) from Northern Ireland, now good friends.

Our area has faced, is facing, more profound demographic change than most.

Yes, problems come with it.

But they are being tackled – by ‘Discover Communities’ and many other groups, backed by a population which knows that the EDL has no answers whatever.