Tommy Robinson’s cheerleaders are hypocrites, but his strategy is working

Despite stirring up hatred and silencing opponents, he is still presented as the underdog by the global far right
Free Tommy Robinson protesters
‘There is a sad irony in #FreeTommy protesters’ claims to be defending human rights while standing up for a man who has compromised the fundamental rights of so many.’ Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

Crowds shouting “Make Britain great again”, identitarian flags featuring the lambda symbol waving between #FreeTommy T-shirts. It’s fair to say that tourists trying to catch a glimpse of Westminster Abbey this Saturday did not see London at its best, despite the remarkable weather.

Not so long ago it would have been hard to imagine thousands of marchers worshipping the bravery of a far-right troublemaker convicted of contempt of court after risking the collapse of a trial. European populist politicians such as Geert Wilders hailing Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, as “the greatest freedom fighter in Britain” and ex-White House strategists such as Steve Bannon calling him the “backbone of this country”? Unthinkable. The US president’s son tweeting in support and a US ambassador allegedly lobbying for his release? Inconceivable.

What happened? How has a fringe figure been able to mobilise powerful influencers from across the rightwing spectrum and collect half a million signatures from supporting voices all over the world?

A year ago, I wrote an opinion piece for the Guardian about the mainstreaming of the extreme right. The next day, Tommy Robinson barged into my office and was suddenly standing in front of me with his most intimidating weapons: a microphone and a cameraman livestreaming every word I said to his hundreds of thousands of followers. Having watched him turn up to confront other journalists who had voiced criticism or dared to call him far-right, I knew what was going to happen. A chain reaction of reporting in alternative media outlets followed, which portrayed Robinson as a victim of the “lying press” and kicked off a cyber-harassment campaign that included sexual and death threats.

Since then, Robinson has continued his crusade against “mainstream journalists”, the political establishment, British courts and minority communities. There is a sad irony in #FreeTommy protesters’ claims to be defending human rights while standing up for a man who has compromised the fundamental rights of so many, by stirring up hatred against ethnic and religious minorities, silencing his political opponents and breaching one of the key rights of defendants – that of being considered innocent until proved guilty.

Despite the obvious hypocrisy behind the rhetoric, we need to take his expanding support base seriously. Over the past couple of years, I have watched Robinson refine his meta-political strategy, mirroring “alt-right” tactics of controlled provocation, subversion and transgression to “trigger” the establishment and provoke it into taking action that he could use to further his tales about “political oppression” and “fake news”. His ability to mobilise people from all corners of the ideological spectrum, not just the extreme fringes, rests on three pillars: the hijacking of widespread grievances, his ability to frame himself as a victim, and his efforts to build a global anti-establishment coalition.

Steve Bannon says Tommy Robinson should be released from prison – video

Against the backdrop of rapidly diminishing trust in politicians, the media and democracy itself, it is hardly surprising to find Robinson successfully co-opting issues we all care about: freedom of speech, sexual abuse, terrorism and socio-economic injustices. Now add the dynamics of new media ecosystems, where slick online-offline hybrid media strategies have enabled far-right activists to reach audiences well beyond their traditional fan base. Some people who trust their social-media feeds more than the BBC’s reporting have gradually started to buy Robinson’s claims to be the sole person to speak truth to power, address their concerns and defend their rights.

Additionally, Robinson’s ability to frame himself as a victim of political oppression and the “lying press” has allowed him to present himself as an international symbol of resistance for freedom of speech. While the far-right has suffered from setbacks as a result of internal divisions over the past few years, Robinson’s court case has been seized as an opportunity to unite the international right. Shared enemies and common goals have become the lowest common denominator for figures who previously did not talk to each other. Now moderate English patriots, American libertarians, European white nationalists and neo-Nazis performing Hitler salutes are seen marching side by side, setting aside ideological differences and overcoming geographic boundaries.

Robinson himself has invested heavily in building a global coalition over the past couple of years. International allies he has gathered around himself include far-right media outlets such as Breitbart, Canadian website the Rebel Media, and JihadWatch, self-styled journalists and social-media influencers such as Brittany Pettibone and Pamela Geller, investors and thinktanks such as the Middle East Forum, and populist politicians such as Alternative für Deutschland MP Petr Bystron. These transatlantic alliances have created a propaganda machine of immense power: for example, provocative livestreams can be turned into viral social media campaigns instantly, forcing conventional media outlets to give their messages a platform.

This mainstreaming of fringe movements is a pattern emerging across Europe. Take the German “Declaration 2018” against “illegal mass immigration”. The initiative was based on factual inaccuracies and over half of its initiators were associated with the new right and far-right Pegida networks, but the petition still received more than 150,000 signatures.

Mobilisation hooks no longer need to be rational or fact-based. In Austria, a country with the highest GDP per capita, lowest unemployment rate and best welfare systems, fears of migrants taking native Austrians’ jobs, houses and wealth have contributed to the rise of the now governing far-right FPÖ party. In Italy, a country that hasn’t seen a single jihadist terrorist attack, security concerns over Muslim refugees played a major role in bringing the far-right Lega party into government.

If we want to stop far-right agents provocateurs such as Robinson from having a lasting impact on the foundations that underpin a stable and peaceful society, we need to start tackling the rising levels of distrust, fear and anger among those who feel unheard in this country. Politicians should address both the sources and the instrumentalisation of widespread concerns about cultural diversification against the backdrop of economic decline. This means mitigating socio-economic inequalities across the country, initiating public debates about British identity and combating the spread of disinformation and far-right influencer campaigns in the online space. Additionally, we need civil society to stand up to the normalisation of “othering” narratives and dehumanising language. But most importantly, we all need to start putting aside our prejudices and reaching out to those with whom we disagree most.

Julia Ebner, an Austrian journalist, is a researcher at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue