Ed Davey voices concern about the Musk family foundation taking the far-right activist on a visit to Moscow
The UK must do more to defend its democracy after it emerged that Elon Musk’s family foundation had taken the far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Russia, Ed Davey has said.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was brought to Russia by the Musks, the billionaire tech mogul’s father told the Guardian.
Continue reading...Errol Musk says far-right activist is ‘a fine young man’ and held meetings with Russian business figures
Elon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, according to the billionaire X owner’s father, who was with the British far-right activist in Moscow as he encouraged anti-migration protests in Britain.
Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – appeared last month in Moscow, from where he issued calls for supporters to take to the streets after a knife attack in Belfast. He shared video of himself in a luxury Moscow hotel with the older Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson.
Continue reading...Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is an anti-Islamic, far-right political activist well known in the UK and Europe
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The man who calls himself Tommy Robinson has roared into prominence in Australia after the morning TV mainstay Karl Stefanovic posted an interview with Robinson for his podcast.
The fallout was swift. Nine Entertainment, Australia’s largest locally owned media empire, has severed ties with Stefanovic, and he will not appear on a radio show with Eddie McGuire on Friday.
Continue reading...Met seizes far-right activist’s phones after he disembarks flight at Heathrow under counter-terrorism provisions
British police say they stopped the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and seized his phones as he returned from a trip to Russia.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, met Elon Musk’s father in Moscow during his trip.
Continue reading...Homelessness charity distances itself after Osbourne says she plans to attend far-right ‘unite the kingdom’ march
The homelessness charity Centrepoint has confirmed it will cut ties with its celebrity ambassador Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for a far-right rally being organised by Tommy Robinson.
The charity, of which the Prince of Wales is patron, has been forced to distance itself from comments made by Osbourne. The TV personality indicated this week that she would be attending an event organised in London by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage has called Tate an ‘important voice’ for young men and held back from criticising his misogynistic views
Reform insiders are becoming increasingly irritated by the party’s association with Andrew Tate and other extreme online celebrities whose views are too toxic for the mainstream voters Nigel Farage needs to win over.
Insiders have revealed that as Reform prepare for power they are trying to end their association with more controversial figures on the right such as Tate, whose extreme and misogynistic content could taint the party’s credibility.
Continue reading...Met ask public for help identifying those who aimed ‘kicks and punches’ at officers among other offences
Police are looking for 11 people suspected to have committed violent disorder offences after the large far-right-led march through London on Saturday, and said they had already charged eight people with offences.
The “unite the kingdom” march was led by the far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson and attracted more than 110,000 people, police said, in excess of what they or the organisers expected.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage announces defection of MP for East Wiltshire and puts him in charge of preparing party for government
Nigel Farage has announced that Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK from the Tories. Kruger, MP for East Wiltshire, is a leading social conservative, and co-chaired the New Conservatives group in the last parliament with Miriam Cates.
Farage said that Kruger would be in charge of preparing the part for government.
Continue reading...Sit Down was played at ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in London but singer says band is ‘antithesis’ of far-right movement
The lead singer of the band James has criticised Tommy Robinson for the “cynical” use of the group’s hit song in a protest video.
Tim Booth said he was “disgusted” that the alternative rock band’s single Sit Down had been played without their permission, as he believed the song was “the antithesis” of the far-right activist’s movement.
Continue reading...After Angela Rayner resigned and Peter Mandelson was sacked, Labour MPs have begun to ask whether Starmer could be challenged as PM
It is the work shortcut that dare not speak its name. A third of people do not tell their bosses about their use of AI tools amid fears their ability will be questioned if they do.
Research for the Guardian has revealed that only 13% of UK adults openly discuss their use of AI with senior staff at work and close to half think of it as a tool to help people who are not very good at their jobs to get by.
Continue reading...British Transport Police say alleged victim ‘did not wish to provide a statement to the investigation’
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson will not face charges over allegations he punched a man to the ground at a London train station, police and prosecutors have announced.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after the incident on 28 July at St Pancras train station.
Continue reading...Restrictions in place on Friday in areas including Norwich and officers will monitor at least 12 other towns and cities
Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests.
Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich while officers will police at least 12 other towns and cities that evening.
Continue reading...High court reduces far-right activist’s contempt of court sentence by four months
Tommy Robinson is due to be released from prison within days after his 18-month sentence for contempt of court was cut by four months.
The high court reduced the sentence for the civil offence, for which Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed in October. He was sent to prison after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction, made in 2021, that prevented him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
Continue reading...Two other prisoners also plotted to attack far-right activist, who is challenging his segregation at jail
A “lifer” in the prison holding Tommy Robinson planned to kill the far-right activist while two other prisoners plotted to attack him to gain “kudos and notoriety”, the high court has been told.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is seeking to bring a legal challenge against his segregation from other prisoners, which he claims is having an impact on his mental health.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Departures will add to scrutiny of party leader after Elon Musk said he was ‘not up to the job’
A group of 10 councillors representing Reform UK have given notice of their intention to resign en masse in protest at Nigel Farage’s leadership.
The resignations will add to pressure on the Reform leader after Elon Musk said he was “not up to the job”. They are timed to overshadow the party’s south-east conference this weekend.
Continue reading...Birmingham-based drill musician known as Twista Cheese made gun gesture in video and shouted ‘pow, pow, pow’
A rapper has been convicted of posting a “menacing” video on social media directed towards Tommy Robinson, in which he mentioned artillery and made a gun gesture while shouting “pow, pow, pow”.
Omar Abdirizak, a 31-year-old Birmingham-based rapper known as Twista Cheese, posted the minute-long TikTok video in August last year.
Continue reading...Speaking at party conference, its leader calls reports of tech mogul’s potential $100m donation ‘somewhat overexaggerated’
Nigel Farage has hailed Elon Musk as a “hero” and said he was “very pleased he’s backing our party”, but he called reports that the tech mogul was preparing to donate $100m (£80m) to Reform UK “somewhat overexaggerated”.
Speaking at Reform’s East Midlands conference on Friday night, the party leader said Musk’s efficiency plan for Donald Trump’s government was the “blueprint we need” as he called for a “complete change of culture in Britain”.
Continue reading...Far-right activist sentenced over false claims about refugee and ordered to pay costs of £80,350.82
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months for contempt of court for repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee, in breach of an injunction.
He was told that “nobody is above the law” by a judge who said the “flagrant” breaches had been done in a “sophisticated” way to ensure the false claims would achieve “maximum coverage”, reaching tens of millions of people.
Continue reading...Dáil members call for investigation after far-right leader gave false country of birth to Canada’s immigration officers
Irish parliamentarians have called on their government to investigate how an Irish passport was obtained by Tommy Robinson, who has been accused of inciting riots from abroad.
The Luton-born far-right leader travels on an Irish passport in his real name – Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and was believed to have qualified for it via his mother, an Irish immigrant to Britain.
Continue reading...Social media such as X are fuelling the growth of extremism by allowing its figureheads a platform to direct violence
The resurgence of far-right violence in the UK is in part due to Elon Musk’s decision to allow figures such as Tommy Robinson back on to the social media platform X, researchers say.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and those of his ilk are not leaders in the traditional sense and the far right has no central organisation capable of directing the disorder and violence that has been seen, experts say.
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