Today in London

The BBC reports that the March for Free Expression passed off without a hitch, despite concerns from some quarters that the demonstration would be hijacked by racist extremists.

That never seemed a likely scenario, but the hysterical clamour against the march (the Islamic Human Rights Commission called it "a provocation to 1.6 billion Muslims") led to organizer Peter Risdon asking people not to display posters of the Mohammed cartoons.

This was too much for some, particularly those who had joined the campaign to show solidarity not only with Denmark but also perhaps with Jyllands-Posten. Whatever other motives may have been in play, I suspect a number of people who initially supported the march did so because they were disappointed that none of the British press had republished the cartoons. For them, the whole point of the demonstration was to display the contentious images - they weren't bothered if people were going to be offended by it.

I'm strongly in favor of freedom of expression and I would have liked to have been in London today. I supported the campaign as a mark of solidarity with Denmark and because I believe the rise of political Islam is a threat to freedom. But (as I've said before) I'm not interested in waving posters featuring drawings of Mohammed. At best, the cartoons are a distraction; at worst, they are a dangerously divisive issue.

Peter Risdon's eleventh-hour conversion to this point of view is to be welcomed. But, given the context of the campaign, it's hardly surprising that some of his erstwhile supporters regard it as a betrayal of principle.

UPDATE
Perry de Havilland at Samizdata has photos of the rally.