Sympathy has been in short supply for Mr Yaxley-Lennon, after the far-right agitator was detained at Heathrow Airport upon his return to the UK this weekend. Taking to Twitter, Tommy Robinson announced he had been held under the Counter-Terrorism Act – before announcing a new crowd-funder.
Tommy Robinson is asking for donations… again
In the post from his official account, The former EDL leader claims to have been detained for ‘around three hours’, stating that his phone was seized by the authorities. In a seamless segue, the post concludes by foreshadowing ‘more defence and court fees’, sharing a link to the fundraising pot.
I’M A TERRORIST AGAIN I have been detained at Heathrow Airport today for the best part of three hours. I was detained under section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. My phone has been seized by the police.
So here we go again, looks like more defence and court fees ffs! Absolute fucking madness. Please help kick off my legal fund for defence here… | Tommy Robinson
Critics lambast Tommy Robinson for latest fundraiser
The 43-year-old had visited Moscow earlier in the week, rubbing shoulders with Errol Musk. The father of the richest man in the world has been championing Robinson as a ‘freedom fighter and a patriot’ – the exact sort of pinpoint judgment you can expect from a bloke who previously dated his stepdaughter.
However, not everyone has felt in such a charitable mood. One of the first people to raise suspicion about the intentions behind the post was stand-up comic and Bait actor Guz Khan – he renewed his hostilities with Tommy Robinson, accusing him of ‘begging for money’.
‘Grifting more cash, are we?’
Political commentator Don McGowan was also scathing in his assessment, recalling another recent fundraising attempt which followed the contempt of court conviction handed down to Tommy Robinson, after he repeated a series of false claims against a Syrian refugee.
“Grifting more cash before pleading guilty again, are we? It was £100,000 last time, wasn’t it? That was the amount you screwed out of your gullible fanbase before pleading guilty and pocketing the cash.” | Don McGowan
Robinson’s sob story has also drawn criticism from his side of the political aisle. Sam Melia, who was jailed for two years for distributing highly offensive anti-immigration stickers, has experienced a similar situation to Tommy’s current plight – and has since questioned this latest version of events.
“Tommy Robinson is just straight-up LYING to his supporters with the begging bowl out. He’s since posted paperwork confirming that it’s nothing to do with explosives, they just took his phones.”
“This is standard practice for dissidents, people take burners on holiday because they know the authorities will enact Schedule 3 on their return and seize their phones. Absolutely no need for a legal defence fund, he’ll get them back in a couple weeks/months.” | Sam Melia