The UK’s leading far-right figure, the activist known as Tommy Robinson, was on Saturday detained by police under terrorism legislation at London’s Heathrow airport, after a week in which he played a key role in encouraging protests that later turned violent in Northern Ireland.
A person using the X account of Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – posted pictures of paperwork showing he had been detained at the airport under schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. The Act allows police and other officials to stop, detain and search someone at the UK border to ascertain whether they have been engaged in hostile activity.
The activist said he had been detained for nearly three hours.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers stopped a man in his 40s at Heathrow airport at around 5pm on Saturday, June 13th, following his return to the UK from Russia via Turkey.
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“He was stopped under the provisions of Schedule 3 of the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019,” the force said.
“The man was interviewed by officers and his communication devices were seized. He was subsequently released.”
In the past week, Robinson (43) has posted video of himself in Moscow with Errol Musk, father of the world’s richest man Elon Musk. He has also used inflammatory language to post about a violent attack in Belfast for which a man born in Sudan has been arrested.
The person posting on Robinson’s X account wrote: “They likely want to see who he is talking to, and maybe find out who his sources are.”
In recent years, Robinson, the leading figure on the UK’s activist far right, has portrayed himself as a journalist.
“This is an attack on free speech, this is an attack on investigative journalism, nothing more nothing less,” the person wrote on his account.
Robinson is due on Wednesday to participate in a widely criticised debate at Oxford University’s Oxford Union, arguing that the West is right to be “suspicious” of Islam.
Robinson, who has two million followers on X, in the past week has played a role in organising demonstrations that later turned violent in Northern Ireland following Monday night’s knife attack on Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast.
Robinson quickly posted graphic video footage of what he called the “horrific scenes” in Belfast. He subsequently posted details of demonstrations across the region, several of which led to violent attacks on immigrants and the torching of some homes.
Robinson’s posts included some calls for protests to remain peaceful.
Robinson announced the detention to his X followers with the words: “I’m a terrorist again.”
The activist has had a series of run-ins with the law. Most recently, in October 2024, he received an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court for defying a court order preventing him from repeating defamatory allegations about a Syrian refugee schoolboy who had been the subject of racist bullying.
He portrayed the sentence as an attack on freedom of speech – a view endorsed by Musk, who called for his release.
Musk also repeatedly engaged with his content about the Belfast attack and reposted the list of times for demonstrations.
Detentions such as that of Robinson can be undertaken in the UK with far less evidence than is needed for an arrest. They frequently lead to no further action by police. However, they can also lead to subsequent arrests and charges if incriminating evidence is found on any seized devices.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
