Welsh alt-rock giants Manic Street Preachers are said to be set to take legal action against the English Defence League following the unauthorised use of one of their songs in an EDL promotional video.

‘If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next’, from the album, ‘This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours’, reached number 1 back in 1998, becoming one of the Manic’s most well-known singles.

The song was inspired by the Spanish Civil War, and the resistance aided by the International Brigades, its title stemming from a slogan on a propaganda poster featuring a photograph of a child killed by Francisco Franco’s forces, warning against the consequences of submitting to the Nationalists.

The single has received press attention once again after the EDL used it on a promotional video for a planned Birmingham demonstration on 20th July. A spokesman for the band told NME they were ‘horrified’ at the EDL’s use of the track.

This marks the second occasion in which the song has been misguidedly embroiled in UK politics, in 2009, the British National Party placed it on their website as a backing track to an article which bemoaned the supposed negative impact of multiculturalism on modern British society. Sony had the song successfully removed from the site on the grounds of unauthorised use.

Many have noted the irony of the use of the song by far-right organisations, considering its strong anti-fascist ideals – indeed the third line of the song states ‘So, if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists’. It has been suggested that the groups using the track are unfamiliar with the song beyond its ominous title, comparable to Ronald Reagan’s use of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ – a song which bemoaned the negative effects of the Vietnam War on American citizens – in his election campaign.

Manic Street Preachers are set to release their eleventh album, ‘Rewind the Film’ on the 16th September. Have a listen to their first single, ‘Rewind the Film’, featuring Richard Hawley.