Uncovering years of criminality, Robinson’s financial record is far from clean (Photo: Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn/WikipediaCommons)
“I get called grifter quite a lot—so here I am grifting,” Tommy Robinson states in one clip posted on social media.
The Channel 4 documentary Tommy Robinson—Where’s the Money Gone looks into Robinson’s finances and shows his dedicated commitment to this endeavour.
The premise of the show is straightforward—what happens to the money Robinson raises in donations?
As the figurehead of the fascist movement in Britain, with the capacity to mobilise hundreds of thousands, Robinson rakes in serious cash from his supporters.
One document leaked by one of his former employee’s shows his supporters gave almost £425,000 in just two months in 2018. In the first two weeks of Robinson being in prison in 2018, at least £350,000 was donated to him.
That hasn’t stopped Robinson appealing to his supporters for money on an almost weekly basis. Yet these donations are extremely hard to trace as he often asks for cash or donations in cryptocurrencies.
And, the handling of donations happens through several companies that fail to file accounts at Companies House—the official government agency that keeps company records. Three of these were liquidated owing money to revenue and customs officials.
At one point, the day after a far right demonstration where Robinson calls for cash donations, police catch him trying to leave the country with £13,000 in cash.
The documentary reveals how donations frequently don’t go where Robinson says they are going to go.
Take his fundraiser for the family of Peter Lynch—who died in prison after a court convicted him of violent disorder during the 2024 racist riots.
A member of Robinson’s security team said that none of that money went to Lynch’s family.
In another instance, a survivor of the Telford grooming gang appeared in one of Robinson’s films after he traced her. Robinson said any donations would go towards the survivors—but she received nothing.
“He’s using me,” the survivor told the documentary, “I am very angry because I’m sat here literally struggling while other people profit from my pain and suffering.
“If you want to support survivors, don’t support Tommy Robinson.”
Robinson has repeatedly claimed that he has been “debanked”, meaning no British bank will process payments for him. But the documentary shows a bank account in Robinson’s real name that he uses in legal documents—Stephen Lennon—that is open.
This grifting isn’t a new phenomenon. Robinson has a history of being dishonest about money—in 2014 a court sentenced him to
18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud.
Yet all this grifting is for a dangerous cause. When the Channel 4 journalist tries to get in contact with Robinson to ask him about his finances,
Robinson responds with an enraged voice note. At one point Robinson declares, “My plans for the future, I’m going to cause a fucking revolution.”
- Tommy Robinson—Where’s The Money Gone? is available on Channel 4
