YOU TUBE SUSPENDS TOMMY ROBINSON

YOU TUBE has suspended adverts on the account of former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson.

Mr Robinson had broken the site's advertising rules, said YouTube, adding that his channel covered 'controversial issues and sensitive events'.
The decision means the channel, which has 270,000 subscribers, will not earn revenue when people watch the videos.
Mr Robinson denied they contained any 'hateful' content and said he was the victim of 'continued censorship'.

Corporate Censorship

YouTube said it believed in freedom of expression but also had a duty to protect viewers from "derogatory and disparaging" content.
The decision comes a day after YouTube removed adverts for anti-Islamic group Britain First from its site, saying they breached its advertising rules prohibiting "hatred, intolerance or discrimination".
A Britain First representative said: "Britain First is at present suing Facebook in Belfast for political discrimination. Once that case is resolved, in February, we will launch proceedings against YouTube for their politically motivated censorship."

Campaign group Hope Not Hate said social media companies had been "too slow" when responding to reports of hate speech.
"Lennon and others in the far right are utterly reliant on social media and crowdfunding platforms to keep their coffers plump," it said.
In November, PayPal announced it would no longer process payments for Mr Robinson, saying he had broken its policy on acceptable use.
In May, Mr Robinson, 35, was jailed for contempt of court.  The 13-month sentence sparked a series of #freetommy protests.  The conviction was later quashed after procedural concerns.
The case has now been referred to the attorney general.
In March 2018, Mr Robinson was banned from Twitter. It is understood that his account was suspended for breaking its "hateful conduct policy".

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TOMMY ROBINSON AT MEDIA CITY

Editorial note:  At last Saturday's Tommy Robinson event reported below. an editor from Northern Voices and an editor from 'The Word' went into the Tommy Robinson enclosure to cover the story as presented by the Robinson contingent.   Our view was that based on the material released prior to this event by Robinson in his You Tube excerpts neither the BBC or the Panorama presenter, John Sweeney, had covered themselves with glory in their approach  in producing a proposed Panorama program entitled 'Tommy Takedown'.  As such the screening of the Robinson film purporting to document the BBC's research methods used was a newsworthy story.

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YESTERDAY up to 5,000 people supported the former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson in a protest against the BBC's allegedly unethical methods of producing a forthcoming program entitled 'Tommy Takedown'.

The theme of the event was to criticise the Panorama journalist John Sweeney's conduct and alleged use of fake news to discredit Mr. Robinson.  The demonstration took place in Media City in front of the BBC's Salford offices.  Only some 500 people attended a counter-protest by anti-fascists.

The BBC has insisted that the proposed episode will follow its 'strict editorial guidelines'.

Mr Robinson said the aim of the protest was to make a stand 'against the corrupt media' and effectively called for people to withhold the BBC licence fee.

During the protest, undercover filming of BBC Panorama journalist John Sweeney, carried out by 'a mole' and a supporter of Mr Robinson, was broadcast on a large screen.  This all presented Mr. Sweeney in an unflattering light.

At one point Sweeney is heard saying 'one of my political heroes is the former head of the IRA Martin McGuinness', which the BBC says was taken out of context as Mr Sweeney was referencing Mr McGuinness's role in the peace process.

Mr McGuinness, who, as a prominent Sinn Fein politician, became Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, had acknowledged he was a member of the IRA. He died in 2017.

Mr Sweeney was also recorded making remarks which Tommy Robinson has described as racist, homophobic and anti-working class.

In response, a BBC spokeswoman said:
'The BBC strongly rejects any suggestion that our journalism is "faked" or biased.
'Any programme we broadcast will adhere to the BBC's strict editorial guidelines.
'Some of the footage which has been released was recorded without our knowledge during this investigation and John Sweeney made some offensive and inappropriate remarks, for which he apologises.  BBC Panorama's investigation will continue.'

At yesterday's event the UKIP leader Gerard Batten told demonstrators that Mr Robinson 'speaks up for things that are right, he tells the truth and he can mobilise lots of people like you, and that's what they fear'
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The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said they 'roundly condemn Tommy Robinson... and his fellow, far-right thugs who intend to intimidate staff at the corporation, particularly those working on Panorama.'


The case of Tommy Robinson has been a long running affair, and in October 2018, the judge retrying Robinson for contempt of court referred the case to the government's top legal adviser.  Mr Robinson faced an allegation that he had committed contempt by filming people before a criminal trial.  But now Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC has ruled that the case needed to be referred up to the attorney general to decide and that is the current position.  Robinson is still awaiting his decision.

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Danczuk Damns Protest!

by Les May

ACCORDING to the Manchester Evening News the response of Simon Danczuk to today's protest outside his constituency office was as follows:

'This protest has been organised by my political opponents who have formed a bizarre alliance in an attempt to use problems in my personal life as an excuse to try and intimidate me into resigning.'

'This is a group made up of former Lib Dem councillors and the far left.  There has even been a suggestion that Momentum members have invited the North West branch of the EDL to take part today.'

This quote is Danczuk in full fantasy mode.  The claim that anyone invited the North West branch of EDL to take part is just an example of his over active imagination at work.  It's another of his attempts to smear people who disagree with him.

I went along because Danczuk has turned the name of Rochdale into a laughing stock.  As an MP I want him to act with the same sense of responsibility as any other professional.  And when he demonstrates he has about the same level of self control as an oesophagous joined to a pair of testicles, I want to see him treated in the same way as any other professional would be treated in similar circumstances.

Would you want your doctor to behave in the way Mr Danczuk has?  Would you complain if your child's teacher behaved like him?  Would you accept the excuse that he or she had been feeling low, or had drunk to much?

These are the standards against which Mr Danczuk's antics should be judged.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/simon-danczuk-dismisses-suggestions-not-10682047 

As for me being there because I'm on the 'far left' you can get my take on politics at:

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/why-burnham-cooper-and-kendall-deserve.html  

Demonstrators clash in Ashton memorial gardens!

Last Saturday around 100 racial bigots from an organisation called the 'North West Infidels', a nationalist splinter group from the English Defence League (EDL), marched through Ashton-under-Lyne to the cenotaph in St Michael's Square. They were confronted by around 30 anti-fascist protestors from Tameside Unite Against Fascism (TUAF).

Although this was an highly organised affair with each group being given a police liaison officer, there were clashes between individuals from each of the rival groups, when some people broke ranks and stormed towards the cenotaph. The police were seen to detain a number of people.

Ashton-under-Lyne has become a focal point for the far-right since the EDL marched through Hyde in February. The EDL march, followed an earlier incident where two white youths were attacked by Asian youths. Takeaway worker, Ali Haydor, aged 21, was subsequently jailed for two-years for assault. The marches in Ashton, are supposedly a response to an alleged racial incident involving Asian and white youths that took place last month.

Before the march to the cenotaph in St. Michael's Square, members of TUAF had been told by a senior council officer from Tameside Council that they could not leaflet on the market ground. This kind of heavy handed attitude is fairly typical from the Labour run council in Tameside. The Electoral Reform Society, recently stated that Tameside was in danger of becoming a one party state like North Korea, because of the lack of democracy in the borough.

EDL March in Ashton-under-Lyne! Are Tameside Council censoring the local news?

FOUR people were arrested when the far-right group the English Defence League (EDL), marched through the streets of Ashton-under-Lyne, over two weeks ago.

This is the second time this year that the EDL have marched in Tameside. In February, around 600 hate-filled louts from the EDL, marched through Hyde after two white teenagers where attacked by Asian youths. Daniel Stringer-Prince, aged 17, sustained a fractured skull. Eleven people were arrested for minor public order offences following the demonstration.  Takeaway worker, Ali Haydor, aged 21, was subsequently jailed for two-years for assault.

Although the march that took place on 15 June, received some coverage in the local press, there was no explanation as to why the EDL had decided to march through Ashton-under-Lyne. According to a statements made by the EDL, they were responding to an alleged 'unprovoked attack' by two Asian youths on a group of white teenagers who were waiting at a local bus stop. A video that was put on facebook, which shows two Asian teenagers fighting with white youths, was later taken down. 

Although there was a heavy police presence in the town earlier in the week and the police were seen chasing youths through the streets of Ashton, Tameside Council denied there had been any disorder and issued  a statement on Twitter saying:
'Rumours circulating tonight about alleged fighting in Ashton  town centre. These reports are inaccurate, there has been no disorder'

When Northern Voices (NV) contacted Greater Manchester Police (GMP) for a comment, we were intially told that there had been no incident and that reports of an incident, had been an 'urban myth' put out on the social media. However, we were later told in a statement by the GMP:

'We are aware of the rumours on social media. A number of youths gathered in the town centre (Wed 12 June) but there was no disorder or violence. A small number of teenagers were arrested for minor public order offences. We believe this is linked to an incident that took place in Ashton on Saturday 8 June 2013, involving two groups of school children. A third party reported this to the police and they believed it to be racially motivated. A 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection with this and has been released on police bail. Enquries are ongoing and we will be speaking to both sets of youth to establish the circumstances that led up to the gathering.'

GMP told NV that over the next few evenings, there would be an increased police presence in Ashton town centre to reassure the public and to provide a deterrent to any potential trouble makers. GMP said that they believed the same individuals were responsible but both cases were isolated and added:
'
We take every allegation of racial abuse very seriously whether this comes from a third party or not, and this incident is no different. What is not clear is who racially abused who, if at all. Those arrested are from a range of community backgrounds and are all school children, none of who suffered any physical injury....'

In 2008, the satirical magazine 'Private Eye', in its column 'Rotten Boroughs', claimed that Tameside Council were censoring the local news and was holding regular meetings with newspaper editors through the 'Community Cohesion Parnership' to stop 'sensationalist reporting' that might add to rising community tensions. The source for this information was a document published by the Department of Communities and Local Government, (See NV10). Although Tameside Council denied that it censored media reports and claimed they were unable to confirm who wrote the report from Tameside, we wrote to the Department in October 2009. They confirmed that the information had been supplied by Tameside Council and had been written by Steven Pleasant, the then Assistant C.E.O. of Tameside Council, (See NV11).

Although this kind of cesnorship or news management may be being undertaken with the best of intentions, it nevertheless, sets a dangerous precedent in any democracy where the media is supposed to hold politicians to account. It  can also be counter productive by playing into the hands of groups on the far-right who claim that certain racial attacks are being covered up.

This Saturday a march is taking place in Ashton-under-Lyne organised by North West Infidels. Members of 'Unite Against Fascism' are meeting outside Ashton market hall at 11.30 am and have asked for supporters to bring placards and banners.