The end of the English Defence League has all but been confirmed today after the resignation of its leader Tommy Robinson and 12 other senior members, including his right hand man Kevin Carroll.&nb
The end of the English Defence League has all but been confirmed today after the resignation of its leader Tommy Robinson and 12 other senior members, including his right hand man Kevin Carroll. After a year in which the organisation claimed that their strength was growing, the decision by Robinson to quit comes as a shock to many.
Robinson, also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon issued a statement today announcing that he would be stepping down due to concerns over the ‘dangers of far-fight extremism’ which have come prominent within the group.
While for Robinson that is the excuse he will use publically, in somewhat of an attempt to save some face, the reality is that this summer, despite the increase in street protests especially in the light of the shocking murder of Drummer Lee Rigby – the UK showed that the EDL and its views are not welcome on its streets.
The resignation of Tommy Robinson is victory for British democracy and the country’s multi-cultural way of life.
Robinson was a racist thug with a set goal to attack all Muslims and all things Islam and people would say as leader and face of the EDL and therefore is responsible for its actions. That to a certain extent it true and Robinson was more often than not an inflammatory character in an already explosive situation. Out on the streets he seemed to provoke the police, the UAF and the public into hitting out against the EDL, in some poor attempt to play the victim card.
And the way he used the death of Drummer Lee Rigby to gain exposure for his backward thinking group was nothing short of disgraceful and disrespectful to the Rigby family and it now seems Robinson has thrown the towel in and walked away from the ‘war’ that he continuously claimed he was fighting.
Taking Robinson off the streets didn’t do much good for his reputation and his time in front of TV camera or radio mic was often met with utter disbelief. His arguments were often exaggerated, unresearched, unfounded , muddled and utter crap. Anything sensible that Robinson said and it wasn’t often that he did was forgotten in an instant as he quickly forgot how to distinguish between the majority of law-abiding Muslims and the minority that break the law.
In one interview, he made a perfect legitimate point: ‘Not all Muslims are bad’ but then went onto to suggest Muslims were unappreciative for British forces saving them in Bosnia and that ‘Islam in the enemy.’
I could go on; Tommy also demanded that Muslims should ‘reform their ideology.’
Tommy seemed incapable of separating the idea of extremists and those who follow Islam peacefully, which simply added to racist attitude of the EDL. Whether it was a case of him getting caught up in the moment and his mouth running off without his brain or if he actually was this contradictory, is a question which would take many moons to answer.
There were times where it seemed Robinson was incapable of keeping control of his organisations, videos on youtube of him pleading for a peaceful march always seemed to end with the stereotypical EDL members, beer can in hand – stirring up trouble. However, the man laid the ground for this organisation and is accountable to the small-minded yobs that make the group up.
Now of course the issue will be over just where the EDL go from here? Robinson’s lap dog Kevin Carroll and 12 other senior members have followed him out of the door and considering that most of its members seem unable to organise a piss up brewery (they do it on the streets instead) the best bet would be that the EDL will simply cease to exist.
With no funding – it’s a good shout that all the money raised for the EDL, which increased this summer will never be seen again – and no leader the future doesn’t look bright for this organisation which is doomed to failure due to two underlying factors.
Firstly, the people of the UK do not want the EDL on its streets and the collective fight back against the EDL this summer in many cities and towns across the country have proved more successful than anyone could have imagined.
And secondly, ideology: there simply isn’t one. Robinson, who was arguably one of the more articulate members of the EDL (I know, it’s not hard) couldn’t even work out and stick to his own ideology and so should the group miraculously survive, can you imagine the carnage of the new school of thinking? It’ll be chaos, no one in the group seems to know what they want and contradict themselves more often than not – with no funding, leader or plan – the EDL will inevitably and hopefully sink without trace in the next few weeks.
Image: David Holt
