Drugs create a desperate cycle of dependency. They destroy families, wreck careers and turn our streets into no-go areas. Criminal gangs operate right under the noses of the police, who can’t – or won’t – put a stop to them.

Not long ago police inaction was also widespread in Northern Ireland. The Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) decided to do something about it. Operating with the IRA’s approval, RAAD offered amnesties to local drug dealers, and if they refused, they were shot in the arms or knees, their houses firebombed. It was extreme. But was it more extreme than letting the cancer of the drug culture grow and overwhelm your own community? Your own children?

The EPL is proud to be ‘vigilante’. We seek out drug dealers wherever they are. We pressure the authorities to take action, to safeguard our towns and villages, and to put criminals behind bars. When we believe it is necessary, we also confront dealers ourselves.

Do we have a choice? Perhaps we should do nothing, until every inch of our country has become overrun with dopers, spice zombies, crackheads and the low-life scum who make a fortune out of this misery. The philosopher Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.

We say: confront the problem. And remember, many drugs networks are controlled by foreign criminals who are here illegally. Just another reason to join the EPL and help us fight for a better England!

Joe swiped the page closed and turned his attention to the man in braces, who was still talking.

‘He keeps mentioning Birstall,’ he said to Rita, who was busy playing with her phone. ‘What is it, two, three miles away? Is there any connection?’

They both knew what he meant. The murder of the local MP by an English nationalist extremist a few years back. It had happened in Birstall. Right up the road. Next town along.

‘We don’t think so. The bloke who did it was a loner. Mental case. We looked at it from absolutely every angle. We don’t think he knew Cullen at all.’

‘Were you on the case?’

‘Yeah. Mainly background checks, looking at idiots like Cullen. Looking really, really hard. I mean, we went fuckin’ ape. Threw everything at it. And let me tell you, there’s a lot of racist idiots about.’

Joe thought about it.

‘This is Cullen’s show, right?’

‘Yeah. Him and some creep they call the Professor. He writes the stuff for the website. Real name Leo Turner. Fancies himself as a bit of an intellectual.’

‘That’ll explain the Burke quote. Is he here tonight?’

She raised her head, scanned the heads there for a second.

‘Can’t see him. Turner runs a group up at Cleckheaton Library that they’re always trying to ban. Racism but with fancy words. And sexism. The Lobster Pot. That’s the name of the group.’