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Tommy Robinson Quits As Leader Of The EDL


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English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson QUITS to work for tolerance and calls his former allies 'morons'

  • EDL leader Tommy Robinson complains that he is shunned when picking his children up from school as he quits his anti-Islamist group
  • Extremist group infamous for violent alcohol-fuelled protests nationwide
  • Co-founder Kevin Carroll also quits the right-wing group
  • Mr Robinson, 30, has been repeatedly arrested by police
  • But he says street demonstrations are no longer productive

The founder of the far-right English Defence League dramatically quit yesterday to join forces with an anti-extremist think-tank.

Tommy Robinson, 30, said he was shunned at his children’s school because of his ties to the nationalist group.

His EDL co-founder, Kevin Carroll, walked out with him. The pair have stunned their former allies by joining a leading Muslim to work for greater tolerance.

Mr Robinson said he made his decision after spending 18 weeks in jail, during which time he could 'evaluate everything, think about everything'.

 

 
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Standing down: English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Lennon, announces he is leaving the EDL at a press conference yesterday

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'I quit': Robinson was flanked by Maajid Nawaz, Chairman and co-founder of the Quilliam Foundation (right) and Usama Hasan, also of the group (left), at the press conference

 
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Extremist group: EDL leader Tommy Robinson, 30, today quit his group because he has fears about the 'dangers of far-right extremism'

 

 

Maajid Nawaz, formerly of hate group Hizb ut-Tahrir, now runs think-tank Quilliam, which was set up to ‘challenge extremism’.

Last night with an unfortunate choice of words, Mr Nawaz boasted of ‘decapitating’ the EDL.

He said: ‘What is commonly perceived as the UK’s largest anti-Muslim street movement – the EDL – is being decapitated.’

Mr Robinson and Mr Carroll, who set up the EDL in 2009, said they could no longer control its extremist elements.

Mr Robinson told the BBC: ‘When some moron lifts up his top and he’s got the picture of a mosque saying “boom”, and it’s all over the national newspapers, it’s me – it’s when I pick up my kids from school, the parents are looking at me – judging me on that.’ He said he aims to ‘counter Islamist ideology . . . not with violence but with better, democratic ideas’.

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United: Co-founder of the EDL Kevin Carroll also announced that he was standing down

 
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Quitting: Tommy Robinson announces on Twitter that he is leaving the EDL because he has concerns about extremism

 

He added: ‘I have been considering this move for a long time. Whilst I want to lead a revolution against Islamist ideology, I don’t want to lead a revolution against Muslims.

‘I believe that the revolution needs to come from within the Islamic community and they need to stand up.’

Mr Robinson said the move would be a ‘massive problem’. He added: ‘Do I feel English Defence League members are going to plant bombs and target my family? No I don’t. [but] I feel there will be a backlash.’

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said: ‘Any resignation from the EDL is welcome. Mr Robinson and Mr Carroll have previously engaged, promoted and expounded extreme views.

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Offensive Tweet: A message left on Twitter by Tommy Robinson just over a week ago. Despite posting the message days ago, Mr Robinson said he was concerned about the dangers of extremism

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Mob: English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson (left) with EDL supports in a mask protest in Woolwich

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Arrest: Tommy Robinson is held during a recent English Defence League protest

 

 

 

 

 
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Turning point? Tommy Robinson meets Mohammed Ansar, a prominent with political and social commentator. As he quit the EDL today, he said he wants to 'lead a revolution against Islamist ideology' but not 'lead a revolution against Muslims'

 

 

 

 

 

TOMMY ROBINSON'S MOST NOTORIOUS OUTBURSTS

'If something was set fire and someone wrote "David Cameron" on the side of it, does it mean he did it?' - EDL leader defends his organisation after an Islamic Centre in north London is set on fire and 'EDL' is found written at the scene.

'Our tactics are completely questionable, yes, and I understand people who say you are going about it the wrong way' - Mr Robinson admits he understands why the EDL are criticised.

'This is a day of respect for our Armed Forces. They've had their Arab Spring. This is time for the English Spring' - offensive outburst after Drummer Lee Rigby was killed in Woolwich.

‘I class everyone in my community as everyone who is non-Islamic’ - The offensive words of Tommy Robinson who today said he is not anti-Muslim.

'Complimentary lunch, manager's a top lad, couldn't be more apologetic' - EDL leader Tweets his delight after Selfridges offer him a free lunch after previously refusing to serve him.

'You obviously haven't read the article properly - there is nothing in common with what you have to say' - Mr Robinson is slapped down by Tony Blair's office after he Tweets in support of an article the former Prime Minister wrote.

‘Leaving the organisation is an acceptance that their opinions incite hatred and their previous actions have unnecessarily cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds.’

The EDL was set up in response to protests by Muslim extremists against soldiers marching in Luton.

Both Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and Mr Carroll have been arrested at marches, and this month will face trial for obstructing police in Woolwich, south-east London, after the killing of soldier Lee Rigby in May.

The EDL – thought to have 25,000 to 35,000 ‘genuine’ supporters – led protests after the atrocity, and there was a dramatic rise in reported attacks on mosques.

Group leaders denied any involvement.

Mr Robinson said: ‘I recognise that – though street demonstrations have brought us to this point – they are no longer productive.’

Quilliam, which calls itself the ‘first counter-extremism think tank’, said it was ‘supporting Tommy and Kevin in their journey to counter Islamism and neo-Nazi extremism’.

Mr Robinson and Mr Nawaz called on EDL members and Islamist extremists to join them.

Mr Nawaz said: ‘We have been able to show that Britain stands together against extremism regardless of political views.’

He quit banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, which called for Shariah law in the UK, in 2007, and co-founded the Quilliam Foundation a year later.

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Offensive Tweet: Tommy Robinson writes 'this is the best Muslim I know' and posts a picture of a man drinking a pint of beer - which will offend many Muslims - while making a rude gesture. Today Mr Robinson claimed he was not anti-Muslim, despite this inflammatory post this month

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Violence: EDL members are held back by police during a demonstration in Leeds town centre in 2009. Their heavily-policed protests often result in a large number of arrests

 

 
 

 

 

 

Nick Lowles, of campaign group Hope Not Hate, said: ‘Merely setting up a new party or anti-Muslim organisation will not be enough to convince anti-hate campaigners, and those interested in democratic government, that Lennon and Carroll have truly renounced their ways. We hope they have.’

Sunder Katwala of think-tank British Future said: ‘The EDL has failed, as all far-right groups have failed in Britain, because we don’t “do” that kind of extremism here.’

An EDL spokesman insisted the group ‘would not die’ because its founders had left.

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Co-founder: EDL Deputy leader Kevin Carroll, seen here preaching on the streets, also announced that he is standing down from the far right group

TOMMY ROBINSON: THE TANNING SHOP OWNER WHO SET UP THE ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE
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Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, set up the English Defence League with Kevin Carroll in 2009 in response to protests by Muslim extremists against soldiers marching in Luton.

The 30-year-old (right), from Luton, used to run a tanning shop in the town, although he claimed on Twitter in March this year that 'Polish girls took the shop over'.

The EDL has no normal joining procedures or membership list and its activities have been characterised by volatile street demonstrations and ‘flash mobs’. It also has a strong online presence.

The former leader of the EDL, who took his name from a prominent member of MIG hooligan crew which follows Luton Town FC, has hit the headlines repeatedly after voicing his controversial views during marches across the country.

He has also voiced his opinions on television and radio interviews, including one with the BBC in the wake of the death of Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich earlier this year.

The BBC was criticised for running an interview with Robinson on Radio 4's Today programme in June, with some listeners claiming that it gave a 'non-critical platform' for his extremist views.

Robinson and Carroll are due to stand trial next week at Westminster Magistrates' Court  for obstructing police officers while trying to march to the scene of the murder of Lee Rigby.

Robinson allegedly wanted to defy a police ban by marching past a mosque to Woolwich Barracks in southeast London.

He and Carroll were arrested when they tried to enter the borough of Tower Hamlets on June 29.

The pair are accused of deviating from a specific route laid down by the police which prevented them from entering the borough.

They appeared in the dock at the court last month where Carroll entered a not guilty plea to the single charge of obstructing a police officer. Robinson had denied the charge at an earlier hearing.

The two men claim they were on a charity walk that day, culminating with the laying of flowers in Woolwich where Drummer Rigby was killed.

Judge Elizabeth Roscoe freed the pair on bail to appear at the same court for a half-day trial on October 16.

 
A headache for police: The populist street movement opposing radical Islam and dividing political opinion

The English Defence League has been described as the biggest populist street movement in a generation, posing a headache to police and dividing political opinion as to whether it should be banned.

The far-right group emerged in 2009 out of the United Peoples of Luton, formed by Tommy Robinson when Muslim extremists demonstrated in the town against a homecoming parade from Iraq by the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The group has no normal joining procedures or membership list and its activities have been characterised by volatile street demonstrations and ‘flash mobs’. It also has a strong online presence.

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Protest: Kevin Carroll, EDL deputy leader, addresses supporters of the far-right English Defence League in May following the killing of Lee Rigby. Mr Carroll also quit the group today

The street demonstrations have frequently been associated with violence, anti-social behaviour and arrests, often after clashes with anti-fascist campaigners.

The official ideology of the EDL is to oppose radical Islam, according to Jamie Bartlett, of the think tank Demos, but its supporters are drawn from a wider interest group.

‘There are people who don't like immigration, there are people who don't like the political system... there are football hooligans who like to turn up on Saturday and enjoy a fight,’ he said.

'There are people who don't like immigration, there are people who don't like the political system... there are football hooligans who like to turn up on Saturday and enjoy a fight'

Jamie Bartlett, EDL expert

‘It is a pretty wide collection of people because it is a sort of social media group that comes together.’

The group's ‘extremist’ image was further enhanced by the news in 2011 that the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik had hailed the EDL as a ‘blessing’ and had written about how he wished to attend EDL rallies.

Mr Bartlett, who is author of the report Inside The EDL, estimated that there were between 25,000 and 35,000 ‘genuine’ EDL supporters of which around only a ‘few thousand’ would take part in demonstrations.

Just under a third of EDL supporters, or 30 per cent, are educated to university or college level and 15 per cent have a professional qualification, according to the report.

Its supporters are also overwhelmingly male, at 81 per cent compared with 19 per cent female, according to the Demos report.

 

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Top troll

Its so easy to lead sheep and generate hate.

Wonder what bandwagon all his followers are going to jump on.....

There is a nice big gap in the market.

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Co sign hes a troll but he never does get a fair shot at addressing serious problems . Every time ive seen him raise a good point he immediately gets shot down and screamed at

 

He does have some fair points.

 

Shame about the followers of the EDL being brain dead racists.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2455642/Former-EDL-leader-Tommy-Robinson-vows-help-police-track-racists-organisation-says-hes-sorry-scaring-British-Muslims.html

 

Former EDL leader Tommy Robinson vows to help police track down 'racists' within the organisation and says he's sorry for scaring British Muslims

 

Cant be serious

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  • 3 weeks later...

show about him on bbc1 now

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