Since announcing he will stand in the forthcoming European elections, Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – as been doing what all political hopefuls do. He’s taken to the streets to canvas support.
But ironically for someone whose supporters are known to chant “whose streets? Our Streets!”, the former-EDL leader has found the streets of northern England rather hostile.
Here’s how Yaxley-Lennon’s Wednesday panned out...
‘I had no idea who he was’
It began last night when a Yaxley-Lennon supporter posted a picture online showing the far-right activist with Manchester City footballer, Ederson Moraes.
The caption accompanying the tweet claimed the sports star had offered “his full support while in Manchester”.
This turned out to be a little wide of the truth when later on Moraes tweeted: “People have made me aware of who this guy is. I definitely not support this guy or his ideas. He just stopped me for a picture. I had no idea who he was.
He added: “Do not be a liar.”
Ouch.
‘Or are you just spouting any old shite?’
Undeterred, Yaxley-Lennon woke up this morning and headed to Salford where he engaged in a heated conversation with an unidentified woman about his recent contempt of court charges and Muslim grooming gangs.
The audio in the following video is largely inaudible until the women’s voice can be heard saying: ”Do you really [know about these things]? Or are you just spouting any old shite?”
The milkshake
Unfortunately, there is no video footage of the next incident, only the word of the Guardian journalist Josh Halliday, but my, what words they are.
The founder of the right-wing English Defence League is campaigning as an independent MEP in the North West region, he announced on his website last month.
Yaxley-Lennon is currently a political advisor for Ukip but is barred from being a member of the party.
But with just a few weeks to go until the European elections, it seems things aren’t quite going to plan...