![]() ![]() Unlike the EDL, the new movement around Robinson does not have a formal organisational structure or local divisions or branches. But Manchester was the scene of his first return to the streets since the effective demise of the EDL, when he brought thousands onto the streets in June 2017. This was also the first of Robinson’s recent series of demos to take place outside central London – other than the snap “Free Tommy” protest against his jailing, in Leeds, in June last year. This sizeable number turned out although the event was not primarily based on Islamophobia – the glue that binds his supporters together – but had the media as its main theme, with the video as the centrepiece. Where you live, where you work, everything about you is going to be exposed.Įstimates of the size of the Salford event ranged from 3,000 to 4,000 – Robinson’s old organisation, the English Defence League, reached these sorts of figures only at its peak. I’m going to make a documentary that exposes every single one of you, every single detail about every one of you. Robinson livestreamed that visit and gave out Stuchbery’s address, also threatening other journalists: Robinson’s readiness to physically intimidate journalists became even clearer in March, when he turned up on the doorstep of antifascist writer Mike Stuchbery in the small hours. Just for today.” The implied threat was clear. Organisers urged the crowd not to attack or manhandle any journalists – “Let them be. But Robinson showed his at a public outdoor event because maintaining a mobilisation of physical force on the streets is essential to his project. Robinson’s launch event for his Panodrama video, near the BBC’s Media City HQ, was particularly striking because most people don’t launch videos in this way at all. It now has another 1.5m views on YouTube, giving it 2.5m views altogether – a figure that compares well against the BBC’s Panorama strand itself. The Panodrama video is understood to have had around a million views on Facebook before the ban took effect. It remains to be seen how many of Robinson’s followers he can take with him to his YouTube channel or to his own branded website, his mailing list or other platforms, such as WhatsApp.īut so far, he appears to be maintaining a large audience. ![]() In the wake of the Christchurch massacre, BBC Newsnight shamefully invited a GI speaker on air to discuss its views – the tiny group’s constant promotion by Robinson has clearly raised its profile too.įacebook’s removal of Robinson was widely welcomed by antifascists – it cuts off a social media platform on which he had built up a following of more than a million people and has been a key propaganda and mobilising tool for him.įacebook’s move against Robinson came alongside a takedown of a number of figures in Britain’s new far right, including his sidekick Danny “Tommo” Thomas, KipperCentral owner Reece Coombes, Veterans Against Terrorism’s Richard Ingram, and the well connected fixer and ideologue Raheem Kassam.ĭisturbingly, Kassam’s account appears to have been reactivated following an intervention by Donald Trump Junior, the US president’s son. It is GI’s theory of the “great replacement” that was chosen as the title for New Zealand mass murder suspect Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto. We noted his willingness to embrace and promote GI back in May 2018 but as we shall see, Robinson’s Panodrama video and his later remarks show how he is increasingly becoming a mouthpiece for its ideology. While the Facebook ban has attracted most attention, the Salford rally and the Panodrama video are also significant as fascist Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) and the new far right movement around him continue to move forward and develop.Īt the same time, Robinson’s overt politics are hardening up again as he adopts and promotes more and more of the ideology of Generation Identity, the nazi group that wants an all-white Europe. This is a battle for which Robinson has given the same theoretical justification – the idea of a “great replacement” – that was cited by the suspect in the horrific mass murder of 50 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week. It marked an escalation of Robinson’s assault on the media. Robinson speaks at the launch of his “Panodrama” videoĪs “Tommy Robinson” released his Panodrama video in front of up to 4,000 supporters in Salford on Saturday 23 February, he was already expecting the ban from Facebook that followed two days later and urging his supporters to subscribe to his own online channels.
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