Now that the dust has settled after the English Defence League’s damp squib of a rally at the weekend, a serious investigation is needed into the true cost to the city.

For the benefit of around 600 people, Bradford’s Saturday was completely disrupted. Thousands of football supporters were forced to change their plans, shops and businesses were hit by the road closures and people deciding to stay away, and people’s lives were impinged upon in many other ways.

While no one would want to see changes that deny people their right to freedom of speech, we have to look at whether this disproportionate impact on a whole city for the sake of allowing such a small group the right to express their vile views is ultimately acceptable.

Our city should not have to put up with this disruption, and more importantly, the public should not have to foot the bill, likely to be well over £1m, for policing it.

No one would pretend there is an easy answer to this, but it is something that has to be looked at very, very closely.

The EDL have a legal right to demonstrate, regardless of what people think of their views. However, the people of Bradford should also have a legal right; the right to go about their daily business without disruption caused by a demonstration the vast majority of local people did not want to see in our city.

And if people want to come and demonstrate in a way that demands a heavy and costly police presence, and which causes major upheaval in the city they are visiting, then perhaps it should be them footing the bill for this right, rather than the ratepayers, who are not only subjected to an objectionable demonstration on their doorstep but are also asked to pay for it through public costs.