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Friday 18 January 2019

Tommy Robinson Ignores Jo Cox

Absent from the airwaves for some time over Christmas and the New Year, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, has returned to his beat - touring Britain, taking time out to rile up his supporters, threatening organisations whose actions incur his displeasure, and intimidating those who pass adverse comment upon him.
So it was that after stopping off at a motorway service area to let his fans know that he intended to “shut down” Huddersfield Town FC, and take action against Kirklees Council’s social services people - perhaps even holding a march in the area - he and his pals rocked up in Glasgow this morning so The Great Man could confront an SNP MP.

Here’s Lennon’s schtick, and a few corrections. “For too long the media and the establishment have told lies, they have smeared and slandered my name [no citation]. Glasgow South MP Stewart Mcdonald stood and abused his parliamentary privilege. He stated it is a fact that Tommy Robinson is guilty of inciting racial tensions. I have never been arrested, let alone convicted for any hate speech, incitement or racial charges”.

Stewart McDonald did not claim that Lennon had been arrested or convicted. So if Lennon is taking a 700 mile round trip using that as a pretext, it’s a pretty lame one. But do go on. “So for a respected member of parliament to lie so blatantly, which was then picked up by the media and spread across the world is beyond words. Im [sic] fed up of these lies being spread about me so I decided to speak to him in an open meeting that he invites members of the public to ask him questions”. It wasn’t an open meeting.
Stewart McDonald - confronted at a library surgery

McDonald was holding a constituency surgery at a library in Pollockshaws. Some may recall that it was outside a library, where she was due to hold a constituency surgery, that Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered. And while Lennon sneers “Mr McDonald called the police and hid from me rather than asking questions”, what he does not tell is how many of his pals were with him at the time. From my own experience, he never turns up alone.

Herald Scotland observedA source at the library said they had been made to stay inside for more than an hour as a small crowd gathered outside … They also claimed that Robinson's supporters bombarded the library with phonecalls”. The library was effectively placed in lockdown for at least an hour. Police Scotland officers attended the scene.
Jo Cox - murdered outside a library surgery

The report continues “In the video, Robinson repeatedly accused Mr McDonald of hiding, and was heard saying ‘he’ll probably come out in a burka’ … He said: ‘There’s multiple police officers here – too many. There’s no danger to him, he knows that. But still he hides’ … He added: ‘I can’t believe he’s hiding in there for hours, I can’t believe it. He’s got a police guard.’” And Lennon didn’t have his own guard with him?

Once again, Stephen Lennon is intimidating for kicks. He knows full well that since Jo Cox was murdered, and especially after his disciple James Goddard’s recent antics, MPs are not going to take the implicit threat of anyone gatecrashing a constituency surgery lightly.

But good to see those constituents, and the other library users, not getting a look-in. As always with Stephen Lennon, it’s never about them. It’s always about him. 
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