this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
44 points (97.8% liked)

UK Politics

4135 readers
185 users here now

General Discussion for politics in the UK.
Please don't post to both !uk_politics@feddit.uk and !unitedkingdom@feddit.uk .
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric politics, and should be either a link to a reputable news source for news, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread. (These things should be publicly discussed)

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson has been arrested by British police on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after a man was allegedly assaulted at a London railway station.

Video from the scene of the alleged assault, which showed a 64-year-old man on the ground, also recorded Robinson appearing to claim he had acted in self-defence.

The injured man was released from hospital on Thursday. Police are understood to be treating him as a victim, not a suspect, at this stage. Police have said he was admitted to hospital “with serious injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening”.

all 22 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] florge@feddit.uk 24 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Need to use his real name: Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's funny how he has no problem in picking a gender-affirming name for himself (his preferred gender being 'real man') and gets pissed off when anyone brings up his real name (which reveals his birth gender is 'cosseted little Fauntleroy') but, naturally, if a normal person were to try the same thing he's suddenly against it...

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

I'm confused. Stephen Christopher is more masculine than Tommy.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I think it's a class thing... i.e. he pretends to be working class, but in reality he's from a family of posh aristocrats.

At least that's what I took from the comment, I know next to nothing about the guy.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

Oh yeah, the aristocrats with the name “Lennon”…

He’s not posh at all. He stole the name of a football hooligan to make himself seem tough.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 days ago

in reality he’s from a family of posh aristocrats

To the extent that there are posh aristocrats in Luton. Lower-middle-class social climbers? Yeah, maybe.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

He has a hyphenated name. To a certain type of person (him) that is a sign of feminism.

The logic goes something like this, if your name is double-barreled it's because one of your ancestors possibly your mother didn't fully take her husband's family name. In some way that casts aspersions of non-masculinity on the whole family and therefore yourself.

I know it sounds stupid but that's because these people are utter morons. Trying to actually think down to their level requires several shots of tequila and a mallet to the side of your head.

[–] Snowclone@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

In England having a certain sounding name and a hyphen makes it clear he's not the type of person to have parents that worked with their hands or grandparents.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Neither Yaxley nor Lennon are auspicious names. His mother worked in the Vauxhall Car plant. He has a hyphenated name because his stepfather adopted him.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 3 days ago

That explains so much about him.

He literally did not get enough love from his father, that's why he's like this.

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Exactly. Criminals should not get to hide behind stage names.

That said, they do say his name:

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why do people call him 10 names when I can only get six, his real name plus his pseudonym assuming you count his last name as two names.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

He was also convicted of illegally entering the US under the name Andrew McMaster, and has used other names.

[–] Denjin@feddit.uk 15 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Justice for Tommy Robinson!

^by that I mean lock him up and throw away the key^

The fact he was 64, and had a walking stick by all accounts, makes the “he was only defending himself” sound even more stupid.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Does this guy keep getting himself in prison to save on bodyguard costs?

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Gotta go to prison to look legit, just like changing your name to something salt of the earth sounding like Tommo Robbo.

Probably IDd the poor guy before attacking him to make sure he was as close to a pensioner as possible without the fear of the headline "Stephen Yaxley-Lennon Claims Self-Defence in Pensioner Attack"

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 3 points 4 days ago

He stole the name from a notorious Luton Town football hooligan.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 days ago

Tommy Robinson gets paid enough by the Horowitz foundation.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 1 points 4 days ago

Well if he sought out the robust man-love he so dearly craves any other way it might damage his image, you see.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I feel like he's one of those people that whenever the police get bored they just go and arrest him, on the very reasonable basis that he's bound to be guilty of something. And he always is.