Tommy Robinson is appealing his conviction for terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism. The British authorities have so far refused to grant him bail, and have not even granted him a chance to consult with his legal team before sentencing him. What does this say about the British justice system and how it treats political prisoners?
00:00:00.000Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and the rest of you, and this is Wednesday, July 18th, and you are tuned into Battleground.
00:00:16.760Well, I hope you're enjoying this beautiful summer. It is summer in southern Ontario, that's for sure, and I'm sure it is that way elsewhere.
00:00:24.800And speaking of sunny skies, potentially some good news emanating from across the pond in the UK.
00:00:33.820As you know, the head honcho of Rebel Media, Ezra Levent, he is in London covering the Tommy trial, and I think we should kick off the show with that.
00:00:46.900In fact, why don't we go to one of Ezra's most recent reports, and I'll give you a more immediate updating from some of Ezra's tweets, because they have wrapped for the day over in London.
00:01:00.180So, if I can call on Mr. Producer to go to Ezra's tweet.
00:01:07.920Ezra Levent here for the Rebel Dog Media. I am outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in Westminster, which is really just a neighbourhood of London.
00:01:15.360Three of the most senior judges in the entire United Kingdom, including the Lord Chief Justice himself, are presiding over the appeal.
00:01:25.060On the other side, a lawyer for the Attorney General of the United Kingdom.
00:01:29.380We haven't heard from him yet. We'll hear that after this short break.
00:01:33.140The two big headlines coming out of the case today so far are, number one, Tommy is not just appealing his sentence, but rather the conviction itself,
00:01:40.760and he's actually appealing his Canterbury conviction from a year ago.
00:01:45.360The second is the shocking treatment of Tommy by the authorities, especially in prison, refusing to allow him to meaningfully confer with his own lawyers.
00:01:59.860I'm pleased to say that the judges are allowing us to live tweet from the courtroom, subject only to a publication ban covering a rape gang trial in Leeds.
00:02:10.200So if you want a lot of detail minute by minute, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter, or we'll post this and other videos as we make them at TommyTrial.com.
00:02:25.800And of course, we have more recent news because they have wrapped for the day in London.
00:02:31.240And Ezra has been tweeting out that the Chief Justice says they have a complicated task before them.
00:02:40.080I'm not really sure why it's that complicated, given the facts of the matter, and given what's being stated at this trial, and given that, remember, his arrest dates back to, I believe it was May 25th,
00:02:54.080when Tommy was first picked up outside that courtroom where that Muslim rape gang was going on trial.
00:03:02.000So it's kind of funny when they talk about a complicated task.
00:03:06.020It almost sounds to me like, well, we're the state, we're the chief justices, we really don't know the law that well.
00:03:14.660And, you know, this has been thrust upon us in only, oh, you know, two and a half months.
00:03:18.660So my spidey senses are kind of tingling there.
00:03:22.520And as Ezra notes as well, they hope to complete it.
00:03:26.740That's this complicated task before the end of this month, July.
00:06:01.920Sorry, Mr. Producer, what is the proper...
00:06:04.840Is it SaveTommy.com or TommyTrial.com for the Tommy legal fund?
00:06:10.340TommyTrial.com, indeed, I had it right the first time.
00:06:14.180And, of course, you can get your free Tommy ringtone at TommyRingtone.com.
00:06:21.580And if you want to help Rebel report on this issue, you can make a donation.
00:06:26.900That's a separate fund from the money that we're raising from Tommy.
00:06:30.420And finally, if you want, you can tweet, hashtag FreeTommy, and get your opinions out there.
00:06:38.400And let's see what is going on in the UK right now, according to our viewers.
00:06:48.160SynthWorks says, I ain't paying no lawyers.
00:06:50.540Well, the problem is, SynthWorks, if you don't pay lawyers, especially in a trial where the chief justice is calling it a complicated task.
00:08:11.120The government should be ashamed of themselves.
00:08:13.820Yeah, and you know something, Miss Green Eyes?
00:08:16.100I don't think the British government realized what they were getting into.
00:08:20.660I thought, you know, if we go back to May 25th, when those, I think it was seven police officers, if memory serves, descended upon Tommy and hustled him into a paddy wagon.
00:08:33.680And in a matter of minutes, you know, found guilty, bang, contempt of court, in a prison.
00:08:40.680I think they thought this was going to be the end of it.
00:08:43.560And lo and behold, around the world, there has been free Tommy protests.
00:08:49.480And in the UK, there's been some very vocal protests about freeing Tommy.
00:08:55.200And I think it dawned on them that, my goodness, instead of shutting down this busybody, this motormouth, this messenger,
00:09:06.320we're potentially turning him into a martyr.
00:09:09.820And that's not going to serve the government for its own selfish needs.
00:09:17.140And CP Nationals writes, we will never be silenced by our corrupt government.
00:12:39.880It's just a shame so many feel scared to say so.
00:12:43.560And, you know, you raise a very good point as well, as we've brought to your attention on this show previously.
00:12:51.860Just imagine, not so much in Canada, but in the UK, 900 police officers.
00:12:57.900900 police officers, not patrolling the streets, not going after rape gangs, you know, not showing a sense of public security.
00:13:06.880But rather, at their desk, looking into a computer like this, and searching for any kind of what they deem to be irresponsible or hateful tweet or social media posting.
00:13:21.820And they typically find people who are just venting or expressing an opinion that goes contrary to the politically correct, polite society of Britain.
00:13:32.620And the next thing you know, it's usually three or four in the morning.
00:13:37.000I don't know why they do that other than absolute pure intimidation and scare tactics.
00:13:42.100They're knocking on your door and it's, hello, hello, did you send this out on the social media?
00:14:58.720And to your first point about Tommy being denied legal rights, again, once he gets out and once this is behind him, I guess it's up to him to pursue that.
00:15:10.740And once again, that's going to be a very costly proposition.
00:15:15.320As they say, you know, it's very tough to fight City Hall.
00:15:32.980And you have to be careful with language like that, folks.
00:15:36.040I mean, this reminds me of Elon Musk and the Thailand cave rescue for those young soccer players where he had developed this little mini submarine.
00:15:48.800And one of the experts on site basically said it was really a publicity stunt.
00:15:58.300And Musk tweeted in response that this fellow was a, I think the words were pedo guy, you know, implying that he's a pedophile.
00:16:39.860And real men fish writes, if Tommy was a confessed convicted terrorist like Omar Khadr, Trudeau would give them a pass and 10.5 million bucks.
00:16:55.680Well, you know, I hope we're kind of conflating two separate issues here, but I'm really glad, real men fish, that you bring this up.
00:17:07.220Let us, this payment to Khadr was made last summer, if I believe, last July, I think.
00:17:13.820And let us always keep this top of mind, because next year, of course, is a federal election for Canada.
00:17:22.440And we shouldn't forget about these kind of payments and other payments to people like Omar Khadr, who is a convicted terrorist.
00:17:31.240And don't forget, not just a payment, but a public apology.
00:17:36.400Can't remember, can anyone remember if Trudeau cried for that one?
00:17:39.800I know he cries when he gives apologies to natives and to gays and cried meeting a Broadway, you know, cast of a play backstage.
00:17:58.860And I'm always still so miffed that the ostensible reason that the liberals say they gave that big juicy check of 10.5 million was the fact that, well, you know, to fight this in court, it would be, you know, in the tens of millions, maybe even the hundreds of millions.
00:18:21.760You know, it's funny, folks, isn't it, when it comes to Omar Khadr, that the liberals, the tax and spend liberals suddenly become fiscal conservatives with our money.
00:18:30.880Suddenly they're worried about the bottom line and the budget, the deficit and doing the right thing financially.
00:18:39.380And I would say this, being a fiscal conservative myself, that even if this was a fool's errand, I think on a matter of principle, they should have fought that hammer and tong, this idea of giving that rat, that sewer rat, any compensation.
00:18:57.680By the way, am I going to get condemned for calling Omar Khadr a sewer rat?
00:19:01.240I know, you know, if Desmond Cole's tuning in, he didn't like it when Mayor John Tory referred to a couple of gangbangers as sewer rats when they shot at some little girls on a playground.
00:19:39.520By the way, I refer to my crew now is Mr. Producer because they don't want their names being used and they don't want their extracurricular activities being talked about.
00:19:48.940I think we have a bunch of people at the rebel.media that are in the witness protection program, folks.
00:20:54.260And and therefore I do hope it's a statement of fact.
00:20:57.300But if you have something recent on that crowdfunder for the Sadiq Khan balloon and there it is.
00:21:02.760This never gets old and, you know, I hope it's that big because judging by the the perspective that would make the Sadiq Khan baby balloon about five times bigger than the so-called gigantic Donald Trump balloon,
00:21:22.600which was actually between something like 15 and 20 feet tall, you know, bouncy castle size.
00:31:17.300So anyways, if you'd like to weigh in on the Trudeau cabinet shuffle and your opinions of Bill Blair in this, what should be an important role, please have your say.
00:31:29.040It should also be noted that one of my Mr. Producers, whose name I cannot say, pointed out to me, because he has an eagle eye,
00:31:37.880that with the shakeup in the cabinet, it is now 18 men and 17 women.
00:36:33.600And, yeah, it looks like it's all Tommy all the time.
00:36:43.240No one wants to talk about the Cabinet Shuffle.
00:36:47.100Aside from PKE Racing, Junkie Ottawa is a city of leeches.
00:36:52.100Because, yeah, I suppose that is where so many of our tax dollars end up.
00:36:58.520But it always goes to good endeavors, doesn't it, folks?
00:37:01.940Like $10.5 million to a convicted terrorist.
00:37:05.860David Jeffrey Spetsch says, laughing out loud, 17 versus 18, I normally would comment, but since it is Trudeau being attacked, I'll just sit back and laugh, Menzies.
00:38:13.640Well, you probably haven't heard about her until today.
00:38:16.160And we're going to run a clip, which will show why suddenly everybody in the world, it seems, at least in the fashion business, is talking about her.
00:38:26.800She's the swimsuit model creating a big splash for breastfeeding her baby on the runway.
00:38:33.64030-year-old Mara Martin rocked a metallic gold bikini in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway show in Miami.
00:38:40.480But getting just as much attention is her five-month-old daughter, Aria, nursing while wearing headphones to protect her little ears from the loud music.
00:38:50.160And, look, she's wearing her own little bikini bottoms over her diaper.
00:38:57.000Mara Martin told the Today Show that it wasn't planned to go like this.
00:39:00.640Mara was holding her baby and was nursing her.
00:39:04.780I was like, do you want to just nurse when you walk down the runway?
00:39:07.640She was like, I would love to do that.
00:39:09.960Take me back to that moment when you step out.
00:39:12.060The magazine editor came over to me and said, if you want to continue feeding your baby and walk down the runway, I completely support you.
00:39:18.900Social media reaction was swift and mostly supportive.
00:39:24.060Mothers are super women and that should be celebrated.
00:39:26.460You know, I'm not one of these guys, folks, that gets upset when a woman is breastfeeding in public and, you know, sometimes nature calls and you're in a restaurant or at a shopping mall and I have absolutely zero problem with that.
00:39:43.100But why do I get the idea that we're being gamed here, that this was really an elaborate publicity stunt?
00:39:50.760I mean, I'm reading the newspaper story in The Sun and Mara says she was pleased to receive so many positive comments, but she questioned why her actions were deemed as newsworthy.
00:40:04.440Well, I think it's because if you're a supermodel and your job is to spend a couple of minutes strutting on stage, surely there was some other time in which you could have breastfed your baby.
00:40:16.960I mean, the idea that this just organically came about, that, oh, I have to do my strutting of my gold bikini and Junior needs feeding right now.
00:42:07.260And again, I think the vast majority of people are not against anyone breastfeeding in public.
00:42:12.780Like every, I don't know, year, two years, there's always some story of somebody losing their stuff in a restaurant because, you know, a woman had the temerity to discreetly breastfeed her child.
00:42:25.280But I think for most of us, that's not the case.
00:42:28.760But this, this, come on, this is a publicity stunt.
00:42:31.580And I would love to see what you have to say about this as well.
00:42:35.960Well, we have some super chats, folks.
00:42:38.420So we have one here from Elaine Finn, $15, but no comment.