Well, that didn’t take long.
Only a few days ago we suggested that Tommy Robinson had given up the idea of a hook up with UKIP and might be seeking to link up with Ben Habib’s Advance UK instead.
And today Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – has signalled that this might indeed be what he has in mind.
Betrayed by Farage
When he went to prison, Robinson was talking about an alliance with UKIP, with his followers providing the ‘cultural movement’ and UKIP the apparatus of a political party.
He had previously hoped to tie up with Reform UK, he said, but Nigel Farage had betrayed him by appointing a Muslim, Zia Yusuf, as the party chairman.
Robinson was, he said, impressed with UKIP leader Nick Tenconi’s leadership, and looking forward to talks with him and UKIP Chairman Ben Walker about working together.
Before he could, however, he was sent to prison, but to seal that deal, key supporters like Richard Inman and Rikki Doolan were co-opted onto the UKIP NEC while he was incarcerated.
Recently, however, they have been resigning and, in the absence of any endorsement of UKIP since he came out of prison, this seemed to indicate that Robinson had gone off the idea of an alliance with UKIP.
It is being said Robinson was less than impressed with ‘TACO’ Tenconi’s comic antics on the streets, supported by just a handful of geriatric activists, and election results that were being counted only in handfuls or dozens.
This was not the kind of political party he had in mind.
Now he seems to be shaping up to make an approach to Advance UK, launched two weeks ago by former Reform UK Deputy Leader, Ben Habib.
Resigned from UKIP
Three days ago we reported that Richard Inman, one of Robinson’s key organisers, had resigned from UKIP and joined Habib’s Advance UK, calling on others to do the same. We said:
“Whether this signals a coming together of Robinson’s street movement and Habib’s party remains to be seen, but it would be exactly the sort of relationship that Robinson was proposing with UKIP before he went to jail last year”.
Then, yesterday, Robinson followed up on the Inman endorsement of Advance UK, posting online that:
“New Reform UK rival doesn’t split the vote – it offers completely different choice @benhabib6 new party (sic). Farage has sold everyone out already
“I know who is around (Habib), the best people I’ve met in my time of activism”.
Political prisoner
And when somebody asked:
“What about Nick Tenconi? Who is the most active politician around today? Who is out on the streets, boots on the ground? Who is prepared and will mass deport all illegal migrants, all incarcerated migrants, all on MI5 watchlist?” Robinson simply did not reply.
Of course, it remains to be seen if Habib is as keen to cosy up the Robinson as Robinson appears to be to cuddle up to him. But while Farage distanced himself from Robinson and his criminal convictions, Habib went out of his way to support him and describe him as a “political prisoner.”
So, we shall see…
