Tommy Robinson: his story needs to be read

15 January 2015 UPDATE: While Tommy Robinson's book provides extensive evidence of his claims to have been the victim of State persecution - and indeed of having been a political prisoner - dramatic new evidence today comes in the form of him being charged  over an alleged fight in prison. There is no longer any doubt that Tommy Robinson is being persecuted by the British State simply for publicly warning about the dangers of Islamism.

Tommy Robinson is the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) who has just published his biography. First I need to point out that the book is not easy to get hold of (see the updated story about this below**, with information provided by Tommy Robinson himself).

There have already been some very detailed and excellent reviews of the book (see especially the review at IsraellyCool) so I will keep this fairly brief.

Anybody who has actually listened to what Tommy Robinson has to say, rather than accepted the stereotype narrative about him parroted by the entire main stream media, will not be totally surprised at what is in this book (the shame is that those who dutifully accept the main stream narrative will not read it). However, even for those who have followed Robinson's story over the years. it is a compelling read as it describes with real evidence the extent to which the British Government under David Cameron will go to both suppress those trying to raise awareness of the Islamic threat and to marginalise those who actually try to stop its spread in the UK. In many respects Tommy Robinson was the ideal bogey man for the Government and media, being white, working class, a one-time football hooligan, and having had a very brief flirtation with the BNP. Robinson talks frankly about all those aspects of his life, and the harsh realities of his up-bringing in Luton.

Written clearly in his own words with feeling (and understating his genuine suffering and heroism in my view) I think this is one of the most important political books of recent times. For me there were two especially illuminating stories: One relates to the 'sting' operation in which Robinson exposed Afzal Amin, the 2015 Conservative election candidate for Dudley North, as a corrupt liar; given David Cameron's affinity to Amin it is likely that he would have been a key Cabinet member in the new Government and so Robinson saved the country from electing one of the most sinister politicians of all time and one who was also subsequently revealed to have a fundamentalist Islamist agenda (much like that other 'charismatic Muslim politician' Baroness Warsi who Cameron also had an obsession with and who really was given positions of power).  If Cameron really wants to find out how Muslims think perhaps he should try talking with Tommy Robinson rather than appointing Muslims who tell him what he wants to hear. The second story relates to Robinson's experience with the Quilliam Foundation, the organisation supposedly countering Islamic extremism.  While the relationship was originally promising (and seen by many of his former EDL colleagues as a sell-out) it seems that Quilliam only wanted to have control over him; moreover Quilliam were also unable (or refused) to answer the serious questions about Islam raised by American bloggers like Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller who expose radical Islam.

Talking of Spencer and Geller, one of the small disappointments I had with the book, is that Robinson does not really say much about his relationship with them (see Geller here, for example), whereas having read Geller's blog for years it is clear that the relationship was at one time very close and went through some very interesting phases. He does mention the fact (well covered on this blog) that Spencer and Geller were banned from the UK (although he does not mention that a major reason for the ban was that they were considered 'too pro-Israel'). Of course the Spencer/Geller ban was supported by (and indeed lobbied for) by Jewish organisations including, disgracefully the Board of Deputies. Those same Jewish community 'leaders' and 'intellectuals'  also think they are showing solidarity with the Muslim community by continually branding Robinson a racist. Not only are they wrong about that, but they need to realise that Robinson is simply a British patriot who, in trying to halt the growth of Militant Islam, is one of the few people in this country prepared to do something against what also happens to be the most serious threat to British Jewry.  Moreover, there is a deep irony in British Jews believing everything the BBC and the Guardian says about Robinson, because the narrative presented is as false as the one those very same sources present about Israel.

**Published two weeks before Christmas I assumed the book would have been widely available, especially given Robinson's high-profile. But a quick check on Amazon last week suggested a problem - not eligible for Amazon Prime, and indeed not available direct from Amazon, with estimated delivery 24 Dec - 9 Jan and a £2.80 standard delivery charge on top of the £15 price. Seemed strange to bring out a book before Christmas that cannot be delivered until after Christmas. As I happened to be going to the West End I assumed I would be able to get it in the country's largest bookshop (Foyles). But  Foyles (and all other bookshops I tried) are not selling the book.  So, reluctantly, I ended up doing a Kindle download from Amazon  (the only direct seller of the book seems to be Press News Ltd). It turns out, unsurprisingly, that due to political correctness trumping demand, lack of availability is due to the fact that no publisher or agent was willing to touch the book (Tommy Robsinon tweeted me this information after I asked him about it).  So it seems the story of his life - a heroic but imperfect man outcast from main stream society for daring to speak out against the Islamist threat  - is not only described in this book but perfectly mirrored by the book itself:  heroic, imperfect and outcast from the mainstream bookshops for daring to stand up against the Islamist threat. 

Tommy Robinson – Enemy of the State
344 pages £15.00 (plus £1.50 p/p) is available here with the following summary:

The explosive story of Tommy Robinson, former leader of the English Defence League. Tommy describes the brutal truths about growing up in Luton, a town plagued by Islamic extremism and violent gangs.

When Tommy led a street protest of ordinary townsfolk in support of British troops, they were met by police batons and brutality. And when the EDL grew out of that conflict, the state turned all of its might against him, destroying his livelihood, disrupting his family and ultimately throwing him to the violent Muslim underworld that runs England’s prison system.

Arrested and held on trumped up charges, while receiving a series of death threats, he takes readers through the traumatic EDL years, his ordeal at the hands of the justice system and how he was even imprisoned to prevent him speaking to the Oxford Union.

When all else failed, a shady division of Scotland Yard tried blackmailing Tommy into working for them. Saying ‘no’ cost him his home.

If you believe in British justice and freedom of speech, you need to read this book.

See also:

• Review by Brian of London at IsraellyCool
• Metropolitan Police Statement on the arrest of EDL leaders Robinson and Carroll (satire)
• UK bans Spencer and Geller: free speech is dead in the UK and the ban was supported by the Board of Deputies
• Geller and Spencer were banned from the UK because of their 'pro-Israel views' 
• A Statement on behalf of the UK Jewish Board of Deputies on the banning of Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering the UK
• The dangers of criticising Islam
• Israel hating, Islamist supramacist Baroness Warsi poisening the minds of Tories on Gaza
• Warsi displays her anti-Israel obsession and gross incompetence at the same time
• Baroness Warsi Muslim supremacist still in Cabinet and with much greater authority
• Update: Warsi's "Equality" Group is packed with Muslims and/or Israel haters 
• Warsi: pushing the Islamist agenda (also now in Arabic at UK taxpayers' expense) 
• Foreign Office responds to my Warsi questions 
• Baroness Warsi and her strong support for Islamic extremists 
• COBRA meeting tonight after Woolwich terrorist attack - and guess who will be there?
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