“Tommy Robinson, aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for breaching an injunction by repeating libellous claims he made about a 15-year-old refugee, Jamal Hijazi. Jamal was filmed being assaulted in a playground attack at his school, before Robinson made a series of false claims about him. Musk’s call to free Robinson is ignorant, self-serving and dangerous”.

The above comment is one of the Facebook postings of 38 degrees. According to their website: “38 Degrees is a community of more than a million people who – in a moment away from their busy days – take small actions on issues they care about, which all add up to something bigger, a movement for a better Britain for everyone who calls our country home”.

This is perfectly commendable except they posted the above skewed attack on Tommy Robinson and many commented, mainly along the lines that Tommy was a bad ass, and with such vehemence that despite my years of checking out of social media I was taken aback. When I posted “Tommy is a hero”, I got a mostly negative reaction, although a few were supportive of Tommy. Twice when I posted in order to clarify my position and even to respond to polite dissent in order to further constructive dialogue, my comment mysteriously disappeared, but here is one that is yet to disappear from Facebook:

“The first time I was asked why I thought Tommy is a hero, I politely gave a thoughtful, carefully crafted (needed to do so because I didn’t want to attract the thought police or add unnecessary fuel to the fire) response. I wanted to refer to it when others asked the same question but alas that reply has since been removed. I’m afraid I don’t have the time nor the patience to re-do my reply. If folk really want to know what I think and why, I suggest they check out my Tommy related blogs, e.g. type into Google “jrbpublications Tommy Robinson”.”

I should say that while there is a lot about the Jamal Hijazi case on the Internet, most of it condemns Tommy Robinson’s part when it came to speaking out against Jamal Hijazi, who is portrayed as the villain. Such sentiments were egged on by an unholy alliance between media, politicians and the criminal justice system. Tommy was found guilty in the courts and sentenced accordingly, including for contempt of court. Part of his response can be found in his film, Silenced (see here), which among other things claims the Criminal Justice System has been weaponized. I confess to NOT having carefully watched all this nearly two-hour film, which Tommy and his allies, including Elon Musk, have cited as a good and much welcomed example of citizen journalism, nor to having checked out all the details of this particular case (not helped by the overwhelmingly one-sided reporting), something else I hope to do.

What I want to do here is back up why I am saying Tommy is a hero, although like many heroes he is a flawed one. I am not a supporter of EDL, which he helped to found; I daresay he does receive support from a powerful Zionist lobby and no doubt he has done some bad things in his time. Looking back at my blog posts over the years, a few have been about or referred to Tommy Robinson. I reckon the reason for this is because of what he represents, not the racist thug he is portrayed as but rather as a champion of free speech, which is increasingly coming under attack, as our leaders appear to go out of their way to appease the more vociferous, often Muslim, minority while ignoring the often silent majority, which I wish to return to in the near future as I see more assaults on free speech, not just for free speech’s sake but because those who fall foul of a system that often shuts down free speech may be saying stuff that we need to hear.

Rather than spend a lot of time or resources (that I don’t have) in order to hone an argument defending my “Tommy is a hero” statement, I will refer to three videos that not only make the case, at least implicitly, but also explore some of the wider issues. These are not long and all are easily watchable – just click on the links contained in the titles to watch. It should be noted that Tommy is now incarcerated in solitary confinement at Belmarsh prison, because if increasing numbers are to be believed he is speaking out against the evils he is seeing take place in our society, often perpetrated by first or second generation Muslim men of Asian heritage that go unaddressed, thus upsetting the powers that be more beholden to politically correct wokeism. I should add that a good deal of my community activism over these past 25 years has been with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, many I believe are good neighbours, and it has been a positive experience.

Reform, Elon Musk & Tommy – Over a pint with Nigel Farage

I confess I don’t know much about the two men featured in this video, Paul Thorne and Howard Cox, but I enjoyed their exchange of perspectives following Reform supporter, Elon Musk’s Tommy endorsement. Cox is an ardent supporter of Reform and Nigel Farage who hitherto has distanced themselves from Tommy Robinson in his quest for power. All this is relevant given Reform are currently the most significant opposition voice, but might do well to join others including Tommy, expressing similar concerns.

‘The Rape of Britain’: Tommy Robinson premieres documentary on cover-up of Britain’s grooming gangs

This video introduces a Tommy documentary giving evidence concerning grooming gangs and highlights the support of concerned citizens for Tommy, who can hardly be called terrorists or hate mongers yet feel betrayed by those in power who they looked to for protection yet do too little or nothing to allay their concerns.

REFORM UK To Make HUGE U-Turn On Tommy Robinson After SHOCK Reveal??

“For years Tommy Robinson has been at the forefront of exposing the horrific crimes of grooming gangs and the systemic failures that allowed these atrocities to persist. He was mocked, vilified and branded a far-right extremist for speaking out but recent revelations about institutionalized cover us have vindicated his efforts”. Check for other “good stuff” which follows in this video.

In finishing up, I am conscious that in our current climate I have to mind what I say, for already we have seen examples of people being put in prison for publicly speaking their minds (sometimes unwisely), notably in the wake of “the Southport riots” (also long before that) and accused of spreading hate, which will be a subject of a future blog, but for me, despite being criticised for supporting Tommy while claiming to be a Christian, it is all part of speaking about something important – that sets people free: THE TRUTH.

A word should be said about the political situation in the UK, something that I cover in my other blogs, partly because of Elon Musk coming out as being supportive, and doing so quite recently, of both Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage. Elon has also called out the hypocrisy of the current Labour government for failing to investigate Tommy’s evidence based claims, focusing on of their anti-racist agenda instead When questioned on the matter of his antipathy, Nigel, and others in the Reform hierarchy, only confirmed their distancing from Tommy. Some who support both Tommy and Reform, seeing the latter, now riding high in the opinion polls, as the bright hope in British politics and one most likely to address the UK immigration and loss of direction crisis are perplexed and frustrated. This clear disunity among those sharing these common hopes and concerns is problematic to say the least. (And before moving on, why not check out this video, titled “I can never support Farage” video, along with the (to date, mostly supportive) 3548 comments – a stark contrast to the comments in the afore-mentioned 38 Degrees Facebook post – edit 04/01/2025).

But let me end by giving this “Enemy of the State” the last word noting, when I googled “Tommy Robinson quotes”, most of the hits that came up as a result were in effect Tommy hit pieces – but here is one Tommy quote that I feel is to do with one of my major concerns and it is all to do with the message that I try to put across to them with ears to hear (and many do), and given we are in a war for people’s hearts and minds, evidenced by my Facebook reaction: “The last thing we want is a war in this country, but it is the inevitable outcome for the way the country is going. Now, the British people are not going to sit back and take much more”.

Where I may disagree with Tommy is that while some British people may back him, some won’t, and some don’t know or don’t care or don’t want to get involved. Where I may agree is that as things stand we have a recipe for civil war and that bodes ill because in such a scenario there will be casualties in whatever way things turn out or in whichever ideology manages to prevail. As for Tommy, the fact he has been exposing and speaking out against the abuse and worse of children and other vulnerable persons, over a long time and at great personal cost, while many others, including those better placed and eminent church leaders, have ignored and even covered up such evils, that alone makes him a hero in my book. As for me, I will watch and pray and endeavour to follow the teachings of Jesus, as well as encourage fellow awakened wonders to do the same …