Headache to sue toothache as Tommy Robinson threatens Nigel Farage with legal action

The chances of all-out war between two totems of the British far right have increased with Tommy Robinson’s threat to sue Nigel Farage for “damaging my reputation”.

Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – is demanding Farage retracts claims made in a January 2025 interview on LBC, when he told Nick Ferrari: “He has a criminal record, a list as long as your arm, violence, violence against women”. While Robinson does have a string of convictions – including for assaulting a police officer, cocaine possession with intent to supply, using false travel documents and mortgage fraud – and has been jailed for contempt of court, he insists he has not been violent to women.

“I simply cannot allow this lie to be taken as fact. There is zero truth in it and I want my name cleared,” Robinson wrote on social media, adding that he wanted an apology and damages. He neglected to mention that the police officer he assaulted in 2005 was attempting to break up a street argument between Robinson and his then-girlfriend, or that he has subsequently been convicted of stalking and harassing a female journalist.

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Robinson’s letter implies that despite the interview taking place almost a year ago, he has taken this long to demand redress because he was in prison until May “which made it harder for me to defend myself”.

Sceptics will note that the threat of legal action comes just as Robinson seeks to drum up attention for his “Put Christ back into Christmas” rally in London on December 13 – and also while Farage has been weakened by accusations of schoolboy racism. Reform has dropped in some subsequent opinion polls

Robinson is backing Reform breakaway party Advance UK, led by Ben Habib, and in a podcast appearance in August condemned “flip flop fucking Farage” as “a City banker who does not give a flying fuck about the working class”. He also expressed disgust that Farage had made Zia Yusuf – “some random Muslim” – a key part of his inner circle.

Now he is demanding a reply from Farage by early January, and says legal action will follow if he is not satisfied with the response. A call from Robinson to his supporters urging them not to vote Reform could be even more costly for Farage.