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Splits in
Reform UK as senior figures defend Tommy Robinson supporters
Howard Cox
and Ben Habib take issue with chair saying party wants nothing to do with
Robinson and ‘all of that lot’
Rowena Mason and Peter Walker
Fri 1 Nov 2024 07.00 GMT
Reform UK is facing a schism over its approach to Tommy
Robinson’s supporters, after two high-profile party figures said it was wrong
to disavow those who went to a weekend rally backing the far-right leader.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform, said earlier this
week the party “want nothing to do with” Robinson and “all of that lot”. Nigel
Farage, the Reform leader, also said after the summer riots that he had never
had anything to do with “the Tommy Robinsons and those who genuinely do stir up
hatred”.
But two high-profile 2024 candidates, Howard Cox and Ben
Habib, took a different position, saying those attending Saturday’s rally were
some of Reform’s own people.
Thousands of supporters of Robinson, whose real name is
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, protested in central London on Saturday after he was
remanded into custody by police. The far-right activist was jailed on Monday
for 18 months for contempt of court for repeating false allegations against a
Syrian refugee, in breach of an injunction.
After the sentencing, Cox, who stood as Reform’s London
mayoral candidate and as a parliamentary candidate in Dover and Deal, said
Robinson should not be in jail and Tice had been wrong to distance the party
from those who attended the rally.
Speaking on Dan Wootton’s Outspoken show, Cox agreed with
his host that Robinson should not be in jail and said he, too, was one of “that
lot” – a reference to Tice’s comments. He added that Farage had told him Tice
had gone “over the top” in his criticism.
“This week, unfortunately, Richard … said I want nothing to
do with Tommy Robinson or his lot. It’s a bit sad because I’m a good friend of
Richard and we are close but that was wrong … I am one of that lot. Nigel
actually did contact me privately and he just simply said Richard went over the
top,” Cox told Wootton.
He added: “I love him to death, but I think Richard has got
to come out and clarify what he really meant. He was actually saying he was
against thuggery and violence. Most of the people there, 99% of the people at
all of these things, are just concerned about getting our country back.”
Habib, until recently the co-deputy leader of Reform, also
stood up for those who had attended Saturday’s rally to support Robinson.
Speaking to Paul Thorpe, a watch dealer turned YouTuber and
founder of a “patriotic movement” called Unite UK, Habib said: “Those of us who
care about this country, who want to stand against the uniparty of the Tories
and Labour, have to stick together. We are one group.
“I don’t know Tommy Robinson, I’m not going to venture an
opinion on Tommy Robinson. But certainly, I’m not going to throw him under a
bus. What I do know is the thousands, tens of thousands of people who
congregated in Whitehall on Saturday, I know many people who told me they were
there. They are our friends, they are Reform voters and we need to stand firmly
behind them.”
Asked if there was a difference of opinion on Robinson
supporters within Reform, Habib told the Guardian Farage “carries an
interesting balancing act” as someone who appeared a “firebrand rightwinger”
but who also had to “curry favour with the mainstream media”.
He added: “As far as I am aware there is no Reform UK policy
on Tommy Robinson. And as far as Tommy Robinson is concerned, I do not know
him. I will not condemn someone whom I do not know. Reform is in the business
of garnering votes. Votes of all UK citizens are eligible as far as I am aware.
There are no such things as Labour supporters or Tory supporters when it comes
to seeking votes. Indeed, Reform’s strength is in attracting voters from across
the political spectrum.
He said that he imagined those who attended the rally at
Whitehall last week were mainly British citizens. “There were many from
minority ethnic backgrounds, and flags from across the UK were being flown. I
think I also saw a flag from Northern Ireland, a region close to my heart. I
cannot make any case for rejecting the votes of these people, some of whom I
knew.”
Cox told the Guardian he would “rather not comment any
further”. Tice, approached for comment, said: “Free speech is a wonderful
thing; we are so lucky.”
This article was
amended on 7 November 2024 to remove a reference in a quote to estimated
numbers at the Uniting the Kingdom rally.
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