Freedom of Speech and the Case of Tommy Robinson

Tommy Robinson has, almost by default, become an icon of the Freedom of Speech movement in the UK. A convicted fraudster and founder of a working class, anti-Islamist, street movement, the English Defence League, he is an unlikely hero. Despite judicial warnings, he was arrested and convicted - after pleading guilty - for contempt of court after filming defendants entering court, ostensibly in breach of court-ordered reporting restrictions. The concept of freedom of speech in the UK is one of the few things that are, or at least used to be, regarded as sacrosanct. Combined and conjoined with the freedom of the press, it has a long and distinguished history.

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