‘Tommy Robinson’ is no martyr to freedom of speech | Owen Jones

Members of the far right are more interested in restricting civil and religious liberties than defending the right to expression

They are the victimisers who clothe themselves in the garb of victimhood. “Free speech” is their mantra, but it is nothing more than a political ploy, a ruse, a term the far right wilfully abuse to spread hatred. The arrest and jailing for contempt of court of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – not “Tommy Robinson”, a name he revealingly took from another football hooligan when he founded the far-right English Defence League – has quickly been mythologised by the international far right as yet more martyrdom. It is victimisation of brave truth-tellers, they screech, by an establishment at war with western culture.

Related: The Tommy Robinson case shows ‘alt-right’ tactics are here in the UK | Adam Wagner

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2J2S8Jp

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