My phone call with Tommy Robinson

The job sometimes means we have to speak to people we’d otherwise rather avoid

In my career of more than 15 years as a journalist, I have occasionally been obliged to come into closer contact with certain individuals than might have been the case had it been left down to personal preference.

From the football hooligan who threw a punch at me outside Wolverhampton Crown Court, through to the “businessmen” who systematically preyed on then defrauded vulnerable pensioners to high-profile politicians I may not have seen eye to eye with, a recurring feature of the job is the need to speak to people we may or may not find objectionable.

It was with this in mind that I called Stephen Yaxley-Lennon today.

Yaxley-Lennon – or “Tommy Robinson” as he likes to be called – was fresh from the latest instalment in his heroic quest to Make Britain Great Again, having precipitated a barrage of racist and misogynistic abuse against a woman who had the temerity to advertise a fitness class for Muslim women.

As is customary when publishing stories that do not reflect well on their subjects, we embarked upon the process of offering the Stone Island-clad serial criminal an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

Having acquired his telephone number, I called. Which Yaxley-Lennon would I get, though?

The violent criminal with convictions for violence, public order offences and mortgage fraud? The inexplicably self-proclaimed “king of the whole Islam race”, perhaps?

Anyway, he answered the call and asked my identity before confirming his.

Moments later, before proffering his response, he asked me my name again, predictably, so he could feature the call in his own social media content.

His comment?

“You are fake news.”

Yours,

Richard Williams

News editor