FINANCIAL TIMES: Tommy Robinson case exposes links between far-right in US and UK

Press/Media: Expert comment

Description

“On the demand side, there’s always been that Brexit betrayal electorate out there,” said Rob Ford, an academic at Manchester university. “ It looks like the point may have arrived for some people. It’s perfectly possible [for Ukip] to get to 10 per cent in the polls without having really any organisational capacity whatsoever.”

On paper Mr Robinson has the ability to increase Ukip’s reach: the video for which he was jailed was viewed 250,000 times on Facebook. But Ukip’s Eurosceptic membership has previously resisted a focus on Islam. “There’s a big gap between ‘I don’t like Chequers’ and ‘I don’t like Muslims’,” said Mr Ford.

Period2 Aug 2018

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleTommy Robinson case exposes links between far-right in US and UK
    Media name/outletThe Financial Times
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date2/08/18
    Description“On the demand side, there’s always been that Brexit betrayal electorate out there,” said Rob Ford, an academic at Manchester university. “ It looks like the point may have arrived for some people. It’s perfectly possible [for Ukip] to get to 10 per cent in the polls without having really any organisational capacity whatsoever.”

    On paper Mr Robinson has the ability to increase Ukip’s reach: the video for which he was jailed was viewed 250,000 times on Facebook. But Ukip’s Eurosceptic membership has previously resisted a focus on Islam. “There’s a big gap between ‘I don’t like Chequers’ and ‘I don’t like Muslims’,” said Mr Ford.
    URLhttps://www.ft.com/content/55bda610-95b6-11e8-b67b-b8205561c3fe
    PersonsRobert Ford

Keywords

  • Far right politics
  • Tommy Robinson
  • UKIP
  • populism