“a regular working class bloke”

This is probably the clearest sign that you are not thinking clearly enough when it comes to Tommy Robinson. He may have at one time been “a regular working class bloke”, but that is simply not true today. Find better heroes.

What’s it like to be Britain’s most hated man? Ask Tommy Robinson
By Jamie Bartlett
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/12140524/What-happens-if-you-express-a-negative-view-of-Islam-Ask-Tommy-Robinson.html

Enemies not Allies: The far right
http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Enemies-not-Allies-web-version1.pdf

No need to apologise, but thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on this and sharing some info with me.

And again, I don’t believe the problem with regards to the deportation of migrants tweet was about communication but more to the point that people conflate migrant with refugee. If he stated he would deport everyone who came over in the past year THAT would be a communication issue. It may be a problem with the mindset of today’s Western society. There are two general groups these days, those who make the clear distinction between migrant and refugee and those who muddle them both into one worthy of our help package. The camp you’re in will decide on how you read a tweet like that. To those who naturally make the distinction between the two, it is difficult to understand why they are then labeled racist, bigoted or intolerant. In their minds the true refugees are having a harder time going through the system because governments are tied up with dealing with the 60% strictly migrant influx. In their mind it is those who conflate the two who lack empathy for the plight of those poor refugees.

The world is divided I’m afraid.

Perhaps the intention was misread. From what you were saying it seemed that the reason you weren’t sure of him was due to what you’ve seen and what people say about him. Whether or not it was factual. My point was to bring up those all too common issues, give a bit of background on what I’ve learned in my own research and hope others (not just yourself) do further research to either cement or dispel those unfortunately all too common talking points about Tommy.

It’s not that I assumed that you believed it all true. It’s more so that you brought up many of the talking points his critics normally do and neither confirmed nor dispelled them, not to mention make perfectly clear that they’re all allegations and everyone must dig deep to find out the truth.

I apologize, but I just felt that it would have been refreshing to have someone clearly point out the allegations and clearly point out that they are that, and if not dig into it yourself, then to at least encourage people to search out the truth for themselves before making any decisions and further perpetuating the stigma around him.

I would prefer the search for truth encouraged more often rather than allegations listed followed by a “…but I dunno”. They only thing that sticks in the unknowing mind is the allegations rather than the “…but I dunno”.

We are quite a bit on the same page I agree and apologize if you felt attacked by me. Perhaps it’s due to the research I have done where I heard these allegations brought up so frequently but have yet to hear anyone confirm or dispel them let alone broadly encourage people to search out the truth themselves.

I certainly don’t think Tommy is scary, or hate-filled and I agree with you on that point. I often think peoples’ perception of him is a caricature. I know to instantly dismiss anyone who cries ‘neo-nazi fascist’ at him, for example. But this just goes on to prove one of my points about Tommy not being the best communicator. This is particularly concerning for someone who commands this level of influence. My reading of his tweet is a fair one, based on what he actually said. Yours is based on a reading of what you assume he thinks/means – rather than what he said.

Anna,

I’m still unable to see you hit a single point I mentioned. The fair suggestion of quoting back my erroneous points appears to have been ignored in favour of arguing against more things I never said. I’d like you to try to understand (as we’ll see) how tedious and time consuming it is to clear up distortions of your views. At the end of it, we won’t have advanced what could be a valuable chat on Tommy, but we will only have cleared up that ‘I didn’t say that”

1. The number of people who actually oppose his views vs those who support him even if partially or at a distance.

What did I say that contradicts this? I clearly stated Tommy has a huge following and influence, and used that point to state he is a legitimate political force. I did however say from a media perspective that his reputation is toxic. This is something Tommy himself said at the start of his discussion with Rubin. To be clear, Tommy has staggering levels of support. There is no doubt about it. His public reputation in main stream media circles is still toxic however.

2. Twitter and other social media trolls with multiple accounts spamming and doctoring tweets and images.

I never said anything about this. I simply referenced a tweet AND said it might be ‘doctored’.

3. Quite a bit of evidence that he is NOT actually racist although if Muslims are considered a race these days then he would admit that he is wary of them because after questioning their views many turn out not as moderate as we would hope.

I never once said that I thought he was racist. I actually said I’d never seen him say anything racist and that the fact that people really struggle to prove that he is may suggest that the racism isn’t there.

4. The idea that he has to preface Muslims with “not all” every single time or else it comes across as if he is labelling in the broad sense.

I never said that either. I picked him up on making a distinction between British and Muslims, which is still problematic. I even said whenever someone does pick him up on potential generalisations, he responds with credible/understandable clarifications

5. Everyone who opposes Islam is pegged as racist or bigoted, what makes Tommy different from the rest?

I never said Tommy was racist or bigoted. I understand that anyone who opposes Islam publicly is treated this way.

6. Logically he doesn’t sit around for hours on end searching out what he tweets. It’s forwarded to him. Perhaps he should take time to check sources but much of what he tweets is various international news articles.
Etc.

Given we both agree he has a substantial following, he absolutely has a responsibility to have better judgement regarding the information he spreads. Especially if such information could foster hatred.
I appreciate your points, but I think we’re closer to being on the same page than you realise. That’s why I would please ask you (again) to quote back any erroneous points I’ve made, so we can address what I’ve actually said, because I don’t recognise my views in your criticism.

Thanks

So sorry, one more item… in his tweet he stated he would personally deport all “migrants” that have come over this past year. You mentioned that you thought that was a bit heartless of him to say as these are people in need of help. However, if you put it in the context of him being one of those in the forefront to differentiate between migrants and refugees and government reports have documented that actually 60% of the people who have come over are NOT refugees, they are economic migrants then you may see his tweet in a different light. He has no ill will towards refugees, only the migrants riding their coat tales.

Tommy Robinson is not as scary and hate-filled as some believe him to be.

It would have been a far longer rant had I hit every single point you mentioned. I simply elaborated and shed light on a few points that you are not the first to bring up, but they seem to be consistently passed around by those who attack him or sit on the fence. I appreciate your podcast, and your willingness to discuss him and his mission, but as I already mentioned above, I wish these few items would finally be cleared up and put to rest.

1. The number of people who actually oppose his views vs those who support him even if partially or at a distance.
2. Twitter and other social media trolls with multiple accounts spamming and doctoring tweets and images.
3. Quite a bit of evidence that he is NOT actually racist although if Muslims are considered a race these days then he would admit that he is wary of them because after questioning their views many turn out not as moderate as we would hope.
4. The idea that he has to preface Muslims with “not all” every single time or else it comes across as if he is labeling in the broad sense.
5. Everyone who opposes Islam is pegged as racist or bigoted, what makes Tommy different from the rest?
6. Logically he doesn’t sit around for hours on end searching out what he tweets. It’s forwarded to him. Perhaps he should take time to check sources but much of what he tweets is various international news articles.
Etc.

The point is, you mentioned all these topics and then just kind of squirmed saying Mmmm I dunno. Neither here nor there really. I was on the fence too with the Mmmm I dunno’s…but then I researched the heck out of him and finally got off the fence.
And yes, he’s not without his flaws, I mentioned that in my initial rant. But for a working class lad, he does his best and is getting better as years go on.

P.S Please excuse any previous spelling errors. I was multitasking projects along with typing the comment while listening to your podcast.