A former EDL member has spoken about how his hatred towards Islam and what led him to move away from the “bubble of hate and negativity.”

In a video shared by the group Open Your Eyes To Hate, Ivan Humble revealed his sentiments when he was with the EDL, and how a candid dialogue with a Muslim negated his fear.

“I thought Muslims wanted to take over, Islam was going to take us back to the dark ages, beating their wives, wanting to introduce Shariah law.

“It’s like a battleground. You’ve got to be prepared to fight back. You’d do anything to protect your identity.”

Humble said it was a spontaneous encounter with a Muslim man that induced a conversation about Islam and his interpretation of it.

“I was shopping in Norwich with my children. I noticed a few Muslim women. They went into a room full of Muslims all in their traditional clothing.

“As I was about to walk away, something just possessed me. It took my hand and knocked on the window.

“This little Muslim man came outside and I introduced myself as English Defence League and he was fascinated.

“He said how much he wanted to talk with somebody from there for ages because we have got a few things mixed up.

“So we set a date to talk again.

“From then on I think we had regular meetings every two weeks. It was just like talking to somebody like myself.

“Where I thought every Muslim was out to get me, it wasn’t like that at all.

“Just a pocket of individuals who want to cause disharmony.”

Humble said that distancing himself from the vitriol he had become accustomed to was the most challenging part.

“The hardest thing for me was taking myself out of that bubble of hate and moving away from the negativity.

“For every negative story there’s ten positives that you never see because they don’t sell papers.

“So I opened up a little bit and then realised that the people I once feared aren’t that bad.”