Tommy Robinson is due in court today to answer to a charge he refused to give a pin number to his smartphone while stopped by Police in Folkestone, Kent, as he was about to cross into mainland Europe. His claim is that he doesn’t have to because he’s a Journalist. While it’s true some Journalists have successfully refused to do this before, Robinson is not noted as being a Journalist in the proper sense. He’s seen by some as an unofficial documentarian of his own activism, and this makes him a celebrity rather than a reporter or a fully fledged Journalist.
Street Activity
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Stop hazing us on Gaza
The direct appeal to protesters today is to stop hazing us.
We don’t need to be initiated into your movements. We don’t need to learn your politics the hard way. We don’t need to feel as you do and learn things by your frame of mind.
The issues are stark before us too. It’s not just you.
This message isn’t getting through. The impact of repeated protests is now a negative thing. It feels threatening. It’s a chaotic – if not mixed – message. It’s a flow, not a statement, of people and jumbled up emotions.
We haven’t seen eye to eye properly as a nation for a long while. This stands true throughout the UK. It’s time for more politics, not more self-funded, shadowy groups passing on messages from terrorists.
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UKIP’s march continues
Nick Tenconi, leader of UKIP (of Brexit fame), is leading a charge against those who he claims have taken control of civil assembly and also civic debate too.
His marches, filmed for UKIP’s social media channels, are a broad swipe against such a prohibitive culture. He says he’s non-racist, pro-Christian, and pro-British.
He singles out protest activity, but also socialism, as part of a broader threat from the Left. His party backs limits on immigration, and pro-nation policies.
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When leaders go on protest
The sight of a leader at a protest is disconcerting for those who like a slower way of politics, and believe it brings about changes too quickly. A protest held today against a so-called “farm tax”, a plan to tax inherited farms at 20%, brings to the fore the matter of political leaders appearing too.
Farage speaking to the media The hybrid of activity and petition is a well-worn path of late and it’s for political scientist’s to tell us what does and doesn’t work over the long term. However, an immediate reaction is still important because current legislation hinges on the support or lack thereof of those involved in the issue.