The move against the boss of London’s Southbank Centre sends a forbidding message about who is and isn’t seen as fit to lead in UK cultureI met Tommy Robinson once. It was 10 years ago exactly, during one of his many failed attempts to mainstream Islamophobia in British politics with a new “movement” called Pegida – a copycat of Germany’s far-right Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West.There was little memorable about this “launch”, which as a social affairs editor for Sky News I was sent to cover, only to discover a pitiful gathering of a few blokes at a pub near Luton. The thing that does stand out in my memory is what Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said to me. “It’s the Muslims that are a problem,” he said. “But you’re all right. You speak English. You’re like us.” Continue reading...

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/21/misan-harriman-black-figures-public-life-london-southbank-centre-uk-culture