Tommy Robinson, a British right-wing activist who some UKIP members have tipped as a potential successor of party leader Gerard Batten, has blamed the establishment for the taking down of his personal website.
"They have taken my site down. [The] establishment [is] trying everything to shut me up," Robinson wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, adding that he is working to launch a new site.
Robinson, 36, whose real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is the co-founder and former leader of the English Defence League (EDL), an activist group that gained prominence in the UK under his leadership and often held street demonstrations against Islamic extremism.
He stepped down from the EDL in 2013, saying that it had become "too extreme" for him.
Robinson was sentenced in May to 13 months in prison on contempt of court charges for live-streaming members of an alleged Muslim grooming gang. After his release on bail in early November, he bashed British courts and media for attempting to "silence and stop people having the knowledge" of these gangs.
Also in November, PayPal banned Robinson's account and froze the donations he had received over accusations of him inciting hatred and promoting Islamophobia.
UKIP leader Gerard Batten named Robinson his adviser on grooming gangs and prison reform on 22 November. His appointment was controversial as UKIP forbids current or former members of proscribed organisations, including the EDL, from obtaining membership.
Some believe his growing role in the party could be a prelude to him taking over UKIP.
