Not “patriots” but followers of a far-right criminal low-life thug

“Are there not many fascists in your country?”

“There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the time comes.”
– from For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

Tommy Robinson’s army of “patriots” marched on London on Saturday with their flags. Their many, many flags.

They arrived in active support of their leader: a far-right thug with criminal convictions for violence, fraud, drug-dealing, using a false passport, and stalking. A low-life nasty little racist who today seeks to present himself as some sort of sacrificial figure in a civilisational struggle. That’s the figurehead for whom those 150,000 marched.

Our political editor James Ball was there. He saw “a drunken, coked-up mess.” His report is an unvarnished telling of the day. I make that point because elsewhere in the UK media the varnish has been applied thickly to this ugly event – as though it was a march dominated by good-hearted citizens who yearn for a better Britain. No. That is not what this was at all.

Our contributing editor Paul Mason is a man who has fought fascism all his life. He knows it when he sees it, and understands how it must be combated. He’s clear that trying to appease this constituency of voters is a waste of time for the government, and he offers a five-point guide on how to deal with their threat. It’s a must-read.

The threat is not limited to Robinson’s rag-tag crusaders. As Matthew d’Ancona, The New World’s editor-at-large, makes clear in this piece, Robinson is part of a larger societal menace.

Tommy Robinson and his followers do not represent Britain. They do not love this country. They despise it. They loathe everything modern Britain stands for. His nationalism is not love of country. His nationalism is fear, draped in a flag.

My promise to you is this: while other media may – at best – seek to rationalise this toxicity with mealy-mouthed opinion pieces, or – at worst – actively encourage it, we at The New World will be relentless in calling it out for what it is: a vile parade of extremism.

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