Author Archives: Searchlight Team

The Fugitive’s sweat-free adventures in the great Mediterranean outdoors

’Tommy Robinson’ seems to have calmed down just a little. In his latest video missive, he has at least for a moment lost that eyes-popping-out look that is so reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenneger in the Martian near-vacuum in Total Recall.

It’s all the clean living, apparently. There was a time, he tells us, that he would have reacted to the pressure that he’s under now (everybody has it in for him!) by ”going on a bender”. But he doesn’t do that these days, he says, which will come as a surprise to anyone who has read the sordid details of his recent lost weekend in Canada.

But anyway here he is, up in the clean air of the mountains. We don’t actually see any mountains, but ‘The Fugitive’ is somewhere a bit foresty. Presumably, but not explicitly, still in Greece. Maybe we should be less sceptical about the mountain thing. Granted the size of his ego, maybe he’s ascending to his rightful place on Olympus.

But there’s a limit to suspension of scepticism, and ours is pretty much there at his claim that he has started this video ”four or five hours” into a gruelling mountain trek. The odd thing being that there’s not the teensiest hint of sweat on his face.

Is it yet another of his cons, you may wonder. Or is he Ballyburberry’s answer to Prince Andrew?

The royal roué, you may recall, told Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis: ”I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat.”

Non-perspiration due to being chronically frit shitless? It’s an interesting proposition. But if the prince was terrified about having to act as a decoy for Exocet missiles, what can have rendered the Irishman similarly sweat-free?

Surely not the thought that the net is closing in, and that pretty soon he’s going to be slopping out alongside the halfwits who got taken down during the rioting he inspired, while their hero shirked on a sun lounger in the eastern Mediterranean?

Don’t worry, Stevie. We’re sure your fellow cons will still hold you in the highest esteem. You may even get to share a cell with one who really likes you.

Is it time Katie Hopkins was arrested?

It is reported that a Chester woman has been arrested for an online post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the suspect accused of killing three young girls in Southport. She is alleged to have posted it on the day of the killings.

So, let us not forget that one of the very first people to post, gleefully, the fake, Muslim-sounding name of the alleged Southport killer, was none other than that odious darling of the far-right ‘Hatie’ Katie Hopkins.

On the very day of the stabbings she posted a video online where she said:

“Police have immediately launched into their standard operating procedures for covering up for illegals.

“Number one – hide the identity of the attacker.

“Number two – divert attention away. Say that he was from Cardiff.

“His name is Ali Al Alkati – yeah, a very Welsh sounding name…”

The Chester woman was arrested on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications.

So, the question is, does Hopkins – who made a guest appearance at Tommy Robinson’s London rally two days before the killings – have a similar case to answer?

Hopefully the CPS will give the matter urgent consideration. Let’s make sure they know about it.

Oh, and by the way, we have archived the video. Just in case…

Read more about this here: https://www.searchlightmagazine.com/…/after-the…/

Putin on the Ritz…

Internet-monitoring police and intelligence agencies have, according to some journalistic sources, uncovered evidence that Russian trolls and bots have infiltrated the British far right on social media in order to foment rioting and anti-Muslim / anti-immigrant sentiment more generally.

Reports Bloomberg: ”Along with homegrown posts, UK authorities now suspect foreign state-backed actors are using bots and accounts with stolen British identities on X to amplify anti-immigration sentiment, according to people familiar with the matter. ”Conversations between Russian-speaking trolls focused on how they have infiltrated channels on Telegram, a platform used by the British far-right to organize anti-Muslim demonstrations.”

The news will do little to dampen the fervour of conspiracists who advance theories (some more tinfoil-hattish than others) that Stephen Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, is some kind of Kremlin asset – though whether via Russia’s SVR, GRU or GUSP agencies is never specified.

Those down this particular rabbit hole argue that, regardless of the routing of the cash, the Kremlin allocates plenty of funds to destabilising the West – far more than enough to explain how ’Robinson’, in apparent contradiction of his frequent pleas of poverty, seems able to jet around the world at will, and book into five-star holiday resorts.

This conjectured lavish Kremlin spending on disruptive Western assets is jokingly referred to in some circles as ’Putin on the Ritz’.

That sinking feeling…

This is where it sinks in.

Your brief sits you down and says the prosecution have got loads of cctv and bodycam footage showing you bang at it.

The sentencing starting point for violent disorder is 3 years. It goes up for aggravating features – like wearing a mask, or carrying a weapon. But you can get a third off for an early guilty plea.

It’s at that moment you wish you’d never heard of “Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy Robinson…” let alone listened to him.

And he’s in Greece sunning himself.

Story here: https://bbc.com/news/articles/cwywvzp9g12o?fbclid=IwY2xjawEjc5FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHU2oYH3jRZqce_Hc_OyzJcqaJn7IIu8IdBFLA_YGucFKmJoi55uYcggewQ_aem_nKSTS0KUwjT7UI6J8IgayA

A historic day for the anti-fascist movement

Searchlight send its heartfelt greetings to all those who worked so hard to pull off Wednesday’s remarkable mobilisations around the country and to those who turned out in response.

Sadly, the movement was caught unawares by the events which unfolded so rapidly after the Southport killings, but in the days since anti-racists have rallied and built a growing opposition to the racist thugs who have been rampaging in our towns and cities.

On Wednesday those efforts culminated in a terrific show of strength and solidarity when thousands turned out in towns and cities the length of the UK to protect offices and buildings which had been directly threatened.

We demonstrated with numbers, noise and determination that it is not the racists who somehow represent the ordinary people of the UK, but those who oppose them and stand up for equality and democracy.

Special thanks go to Stand Up To Racism which pulled out all the stops. It was a magnificent achievement and a great day in the history of the movement.