That tells you everything you need to know, really
Far-right anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson has endorsed Reform’s candidate in next month’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
Founder of anti-fascist campaign group Hope not Hate, Nick Lowles, had written on X, “@hopenothate will be going ALL IN to stop Matthew Goodwin getting elected in #Gorton&Denton”.
In a post responding to Lowles, Robinson urged his followers to “Vote for Matt” on 26 February.
In a resurfaced video clip, Goodwin, who previously worked closely with Lowles when he was researching the far-right, is seen criticising Robinson’s anti-Muslim politics, and saying they reject human equality.
Robinson has made the endorsement despite now being a member of Advance UK and having fallen out with Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Last month, Robinson threatened to sue Farage for saying he has a history of violence against women. The English Defence League founder said there was “zero truth” in the claim.
However, he was convicted back in 2005 for assaulting an off-duty police officer who had “intervened in a bid to protect the EDL founder’s girlfriend” as they argued in the street.
Responding to Robinson’s endorsement, journalist Don McGowan wrote on X: “And that, ladies and gentlemen, should tell you everything you need to know about Matt Goodwin.
“A ringing endorsement from the UK’s most prolific conman, crypto grifter, foreign asset and all round race baiting loser, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.”
Another X user, Trevor McArdle, wrote: “I thought Tommy Robinson had fallen out with Farage and Reform and had joined Advance UK.
“So why would he be endorsing Islamophobic arch grifter Matt Goodwin.The whole “far right@ movement is just one huge scam. At the expense of the British people.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “The stakes couldn’t be higher in Gorton and Denton. Tommy Robinson’s endorsement of Reform’s candidate shows who he really is and what he stands for.”
They added: “Only a vote for Labour can stop the toxic politics that Reform and Tommy Robinson would bring to Manchester.”
Hannah Spencer, the Green Party candidate and a 34-year-old plumber and councillor, said: “This is a crucial by-election. The choice is clear – Green v Reform. Hope v hate. Only the Green Party can stop Reform in this by-election.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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