All posts tagged: Robinson

I was at Tommy Robinson rally Unite the Kingdom – 1 thing surprised me | UK | News

I was at Tommy Robinson rally Unite the Kingdom – 1 thing surprised me | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

This was the first time I have reported from a protest organised by Robinson, the far-right activist who founded the English Defence League (EDL) back in 2009. There are many stereotypes around his supporters – and some of these I observed at the rally – but, as I stood on Kingsway looking to speak to those taking part, I was surprised by the number of people who did not fit into those preconceptions. This included a 43-year-old Polish man, who has been living in the UK for more than 20 years, and his 36-year-old partner from Ghana. Robinson said the demonstration was about “national unity, free speech and Christian values”. Many protesters who spoke to me mentioned free speech as a particularly big issue, as well as illegal immigration and grooming gangs. Throughout the protest there was an almost constant hum of “Keir Starmer is a w*****” chants — a sentiment also replicated on some t-shirts, placards and flags. Shouts of “we want Starmer out” could also be heard. In many ways, it felt as …

The New Scientist Book Club’s verdict on Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson: Mostly great, with a few quibbles

The New Scientist Book Club’s verdict on Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson: Mostly great, with a few quibbles

Published by skeptic

What did the New Scientist Book Club think of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars? I set the New Scientist Book Club something of a challenge in April: make your way through the 600-plus pages of Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson’s doorstopper of a novel, in just 30 days, and then tell us what you thought of it on our lively new Discord channel (and do please show your working). I’ll admit to some self-interest here: I think of Red Mars as one of my all-time favourite books, but I haven’t read it for years. So, when reviewer George Bass wrote me a great piece about how this story of the first 100 astronauts and scientists to live on Mars opens in 2026, I jumped at a reason to revisit it with our community of 25,000 avid readers. I wasn’t disappointed. Robinson brings the vast landscapes and alien beauty of Mars to life with great skill, and I enjoyed the way the story moves between viewpoints. Sometimes we hear from Ann, who is desperate to ensure …

Rap group Kneecap reignites spat with Sharon Osbourne as she supports far-right Tommy Robinson rally

Rap group Kneecap reignites spat with Sharon Osbourne as she supports far-right Tommy Robinson rally

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Rap group Kneecap have reignited their feud with Sharon Osbourne after her public endorsement of a rally organized by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson. On Friday, the former X Factor judge signaled her support for the “Unite the Kingdom” rally happening next month in the U.K., commenting on Instagram: “See you at the march.” Kneecap, known for using political activism in their music, responded by reposting an opinion piece from the Metro newspaper with the headline: “Sharon Osbourne attending a Tommy Robinson march proves Kneecap were right about her.” The group wrote in a caption on X: “F*** @MrsSOsbourne [Sharon Osbourne].” Osbourne’s endorsement of Robinson also led youth homelessness charity Centrepoint, which she worked with on a recent fundraising campaign, to drop her. A Centrepoint …

Hiking Through History by Kirk Ward Robinson

Hiking Through History by Kirk Ward Robinson

Published by José Betancourt

There is a certain kind of traveler who cannot walk past a battlefield without hearing the dead. Kirk Ward Robinson is that kind of traveler — the kind who crosses an ocean on a cruise ship not to bask at the pool bar, but to disembark in Spain with a backpack, trekking poles, and a decade’s worth of historical research loaded into his mind like ammunition. Hiking Through History by Kirk Ward Robinson — in this beautifully revised 20th Anniversary Edition — is not just a travel memoir. It is a sustained act of historical imagination, a walking meditation across three of the most dramatic landscapes in Western history, and one of the more honest, funny, and genuinely moving accounts of solo travel you are likely to read. The Man Behind the Miles Before the journeys begin, it helps to know who is doing the walking. Robinson is a four-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker with more than 10,000 miles on foot and 20,000 on a bicycle. He is twice named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books list …

Who Speaks for Us? | Marilynne Robinson

Who Speaks for Us? | Marilynne Robinson

Published by Jenni Sidey

When Donald Trump was first elected to the presidency, a British friend asked me if his authoritarian tendencies were a real threat to America. No, I said, because the country had so many autonomous centers of power to constrain him—the press, the unions and professions, the universities, the courts, the states, and, of course, various types and sources of political opposition. Not all these supposed checks on his power have capitulated absolutely, but enough of them have capitulated to raise fundamental questions about the country we thought we had and the country we have now. It will always be true that we have seen the Constitution effectively brushed aside by a superannuated game show host who galvanizes his base with talk of showerheads and windmills and the demonic nastiness of the other party. All this is so strange that it is hard to imagine how history will take any lessons from it. It would seem grossly improbable that a billionaire—rich from birth and repeatedly bankrupt yet still a billionaire—could lead a movement of angry “populism.” …

Nick Robinson Slams Ed Davey Over Past Prince Andrew Praise

Nick Robinson Slams Ed Davey Over Past Prince Andrew Praise

Published by Sam Flores

Nick Robinson skewered Ed Davey over his past praise for the “excellent job” the then Prince Andrew was doing as the UK’s trade envoy. The Lib Dem leader was left embarrassed during an excruciating grilling on Radio 4′s Today programme. Davey is forcing a vote in the House of Commons today which could force the government to publish all documents relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment and performance as trade envoy. He said: “I think we’ve seen too often in the past that people, because of their title or their friends or whatever, have not been properly held to account. “The rules of the House of Commons have prevented, and Speakers have overseen this over the centuries, prevented MPs from criticising members of the Royal Family and sometimes even mentioning them, and that really seems old fashioned and is the wrong thing to do.” But Robinson told him: “It’s what you did when you were a minister though, isn’t it?” Davey then admitted praising the job the then Prince Andrew did as UK trade envoy during …

Tommy Robinson Endorses Reform UK Candidate In By Election

Tommy Robinson Endorses Reform UK Candidate In By Election

Published by Sam Flores

Tommy Robinson has endorsed Reform UK’s candidate in next month’s crunch Gorton and Denton by-election. The far-right agitator urged his social media followers in the Greater Manchester constituency to vote for Matt Goodwin. Goodwin, a former academic-turned-right-wing GB News presenter, was unveiled by Reform earlier this week. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has had a long-running feud with Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and last year insisted he would never let him join the party. A Labour campaign 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. “The Greens simply cannot win this by-election, leaving a stark choice between unity and change with Labour, or division and risk with Reform. “Only a vote for Labour can stop the toxic politics that Reform and Tommy Robinson would bring to Manchester.” Reform UK have been contacted for comment. Meanwhile, the Green Party’s candidate said the by-election was a battle of “hope versus hate”. Hannah Spencer, …

Nick Robinson Questions Labour Minister Over Recent U Turn

Nick Robinson Questions Labour Minister Over Recent U Turn

Published by Sam Flores

The veteran BBC broadcaster asked “why should anyone believe” what the government announces given the prime minister’s track record of climbdowns. It was confirmed on Tuesday night that digital ID will no longer be mandatory for anyone seeking work in the UK – despite Starmer saying it would be when he announced the policy last September. Incredibly, it was the 13th U-turn by the government since Labour’s general election victory 18 months ago. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander was forced to defend the government’s position in a round of broadcast interviews on Wednesday. On Radio 4′s Today programme, Robinson told her: “It’s as simple as this, isn’t it? No one has any idea which policy this government will stick to. You announce things, and you abandon them. You make U-turns. “There have been two this year, it’s only 14 days in to 2026. You made one just before Christmas. Why should anybody believe the words you’ve just uttered … or the words of a press release when again and again ministers scrap their own announcements?” Earlier …

At What Cost? | Marilynne Robinson

At What Cost? | Marilynne Robinson

Published by José Betancourt

Recent elections produced similar results in very dissimilar places. Commentators came up immediately with a word to summarize what lay behind this apparent like-mindedness among the voters of Mississippi, Utah, and New York City. The word is “affordability.” It was popularized in the first place by Zohran Mamdani in his successful campaign to be mayor of New York City. In his use of it, the word refers to the fact that the health of a city depends on the ability of its population to achieve basic stability in the essentials of their lives, to earn enough relative to the cost of living to work and raise families under less than harrowing conditions. Mamdani has proposed modest reforms—free buses, free childcare for children aged six weeks to five years, some city-owned grocery stores to act as a check on food prices—that are well designed to have significant benefits for a great part of the population. I do not intend any criticism of these policies in themselves when I say that, in shifting expenses from individuals to …