Tommy Robinson’s European election campaign leaves police caught between a rock and a hard place

Politics Explained: As police struggle to balance competing demands, activist-turned-politician capitalises on violence for votes

The police have a difficult balancing act to perform (PA)

During Tommy Robinson’s tenure as leader of the English Defence League (EDL), policing the group’s marches cost more than £10m.

Thousands of officers battled to keep the anti-Islam organisation’s supporters under control as they rampaged through town centres and clashed with counter-protesters.

Robinson was then a known quantity – a convicted criminal who surrounded himself with football hooligans – and police could respond in the appropriate, robust manner.

But after leaving the EDL, his reinvention as a self-declared “independent journalist” meant any move to block events, make arrests or enforce contempt of court laws became presented as a freedom of speech crackdown.

Now Robinson is among a handful of controversial figures running for political office as MEPs – leaving police with a further balancing act to perform, caught between their duty to uphold public order and facilitate electoral campaigning.

Authorities have been trying to keep candidates and counter-protesters apart at events across the country, but could not stop milkshakes being launched at Robinson, Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin – who YouTubes as Sargon of Akkad – and Nigel Farage.

While some critics defended the incidents as a humorous form of political protest, others argue that they are unacceptable and would be received differently if the targets were mainstream or left-wing politicians.

Amid accusations of double standards, police have come under fire for arresting men who allegedly threw milkshakes over Mr Farage and Mr Benjamin, but not those who targeted Robinson.

Robinson claims that violence against his campaign has been minimised and even encouraged, after bricks and bottles were launched by a group calling itself the “Muslim Defence League” in Oldham last weekend.

In a frank statement, Greater Manchester Police said both Robinson’s campaign event and the protest were (until violence broke out) “in line with everyone’s right to free speech and we do not have any powers to stop this from happening”.

Amid accusations it “escorted” attackers to their target, the force said officers walked with the group in an attempt to “reduce any problems on the route they took”.

Superintendent Danny Inglis added: “When we say free speech, we certainly do not mean speech or actions that are full of hate.

“Hate will never, ever be tolerated, not only in Oldham, but in the whole of Greater Manchester and we will seek out those who think that this is acceptable and hold them to account.”

A previous street brawl between Robinson’s supporters and opponents in Warrington saw several people injured, and one of his vehicles had its windows smashed in Preston on Monday.

Police are investigating each incident but the lack of arrests has left Robinson to spread claims of a conspiracy which is enabling a “well-funded operation being conducted by agitators to stop my political campaign”.

“It’s disgusting that Muslim thugs can be allowed by the police to ruin a political rally,” he wrote to email subscribers on Saturday.

“We need to take our country back, and it starts by electing me on the 23 May and sending them a message they’ll never forget.”

Turning the chaos to his advantage could earn Robinson enough votes to become an MEP for northwest England. Police leaders will not relish that prospect.