The news of Tommy Robinson’s leaving the English Defence League has provoked a deluge of reactions, occupying all points between praise and outrage. And maybe the sheer amount of coverage is something we should look at as well as the direction of Tommy’s journey.
However the EDL emerges from this episode, I’m sure it will carry on, because patriots have arisen, made themselves known to each other up and down the country and beyond, and emerged energised. It has built up a head of steam that cannot simply dissipate.
Things previously unbelievable before 2009 have happened, such as:
- Victims of child-grooming gangs are no longer being labelled as promiscuous or borderline racists on the grounds of their rapists’ and traffickers’ identities.
- Politicians are not being seen as racists (except by the usual culprits) for concentrating on immigration.
- Blue-collar concerns over national identity are being aired much more by the media, even by the BBC.
This has all happened because EDL members have taken all of these and more literally into the public square and have not let politicians forget the inconvenient truth that each one of us has a vote.
But the complex nature of public opinion and debate has also come to the fore, and the full veil is a case in point. Whereas opposition to this identity-smothering garment was initially sidelined as a fringe issue, because of patriots preventing it from dropping from debate the loudest voices now protesting against the full veil are Muslim women. And now the subject is out, bodies such as UKIP – which opposed the full veil under all circumstances – are engaging with its adherents and saying they’ll tolerate it in limited circumstances.
And all because the EDL have not surrendered to bullies, bottles and bricks any more than to far right infiltration – and undoubtedly will continue thus. God bless them.
Gerry Dorrian
300 words
It was painfully obvious from Tommys body language speech and general demeanour that he was uncomfortable saying what he was saying at the quilliam press conference.Personally if I had to hazard a guess at why he actually quit I say he had a visit the night before from members of the security services,who using some clever pychology and veiled threats let him know that if he went to court he would get 1 to 5 years guaranteed or alternatively he could quit and they would drop all charges and sort his life for him. Alternatively I would say it was possibly family pressure that forced him to accept a long standing exit strategy.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these had crossed my mind. Whatever's happened, I don't blame Tommy, his leadership has changed the nature of debate in the UK. Personally I've taken the decision to step back myself - not to let up on jihad, but to approach it from different angles now it can no longer be caricatured as a fringe obsession.
ReplyDelete"far right infiltration..." Yes, and far-left infiltration, police infiltration and - possibly - jihadist infiltration. As well as managing a few lads looking more for 'biffo' than a legitimate political protest, there must have been a few agent provocateurs hell-bent on stirring up violence to discredit the EDL and Robinson/Carroll.
ReplyDeleteToo right Myrmecia - I'm sure when the left-wing realised here was a working-class mass movement they couldn't control through the unions and political correctness they mobilised their usual stormtroopers.
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