After his contempt of court case was referred to the attorney general, the British right-wing activist went to the House of Lords, where he, The Sun claimed, had a “boozy” three-course lunch – something, which drew much criticism from MPs and the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.
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During his conversation with Bercow, Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald said that Robinson, whom he branded as a “violent, racist thug and fraudster,” shouldn’t have been invited to “walk amongst us on the parliamentary estate,” and urged Bercow to raise the matter with his Lords counterpart.
"But today we have learned that yesterday the violent, racist thug and fraudster known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or Tommy Robinson, was invited on to the estate and wined and dined in the House of Lords yesterday. I understand that sometimes we have to engage in views that one might not agree with, but surely, surely the fact that a man who is as guilty as he is — on stirring up racial hatred, organising violent, thuggish crimes around the country, setting up the EDL and everything that comes with it — crosses a line,” McDonald said.
Bercow, for his part, stated that he shared McDonald's “assessment of the individual concerned: a loathsome, obnoxious, repellent individual.”
"However, and this is the procedurally significant point, the question of who might be invited to dine in the other place is outside of my remit. I always appreciate the enthusiasm of [Mr. McDonald] for extending my reach and scope; however, this is a matter for the other place.”
In an Instagram post, Robinson debunked media claims of that the lunch in the House of Lords was “boozy,” having taken a screenshot of The Sun’s headline, and wrote a caption: “Boozy lunch? I was drinking water”:
UKIP leader Gerard Batten, who dined with Robinson, also took to Twitter to slam mainstream media for fake reports:
More lies from the Sun. It was no boozy lunch — the booze flowed at the Red Lion in Whitehall after lunch. And no red wine was served. The MSM should be telling the truth about how the Judge dropped the case like a hot brick when he read Tommy’s statement https://t.co/CBsncJrFHE
— Gerard Batten MEP (@GerardBattenMEP) 24 октября 2018 г.
On Tuesday, the Old Bailey heard that Robinson denied that he had broken media reporting rules at court, and his case was referred to the county's attorney general for further consideration.
The EDL's ex-leader was already on a suspended sentence for contempt of court for recording a video in Canterbury Crown Court in May 2017 during the trial of four suspected rapists, which made the judge activate a three-month sentence for the previous offense and add 10 months for the new one.
In August, Robinson was released from prison in August after the Court of Appeal overruled the original findings at Leeds Crown Court and ordered the case be heard again.
