A NEW documentary is set to expose the dodgy finances and movements of British far-right rabble-rouser Tommy Robinson – including how he funds stays at luxurious hideaways across Spain and Portugal.
Tommy Robinson: Where’s the Money Gone?, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary will air on the channel at 10pm on Wednesday night.
According to a preview released by Channel 4, the programme will ‘investigate the finances’ of Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, ‘raising serious questions about one of the UK’s highest-profile right-wing campaigners’.
The documentary appears to have got the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) sweating, with Robinson taking to X earlier this summer to warn his followers of an upcoming investigation.
“Panodrama [sic] part 2 incoming,” he wrote. “The establishment media are about to try and assassinate my character to the British public with a documentary. Unfortunately for them I always have the receipts.”
A trailer clip for Wednesday night’s programme shared by Channel 4 on social media appears to show the 43-year-old angrily threatening Matt Shea, a freelance journalist.
“Matt, you are irrelevant…We are going to declare a declaration of war on you and your media because you’re sh*t,” Robinson is heard ranting in a voice note.
He adds: “Whatever you do in this documentary to make me look bad, whatever you do, I’m going to go on to fabulous things…I have the support of the public. The public f***ing hate you – all of you.
“My plans for the future, I want to cause a f***ing revolution mate whilst you’re sitting there drinking your f***ing soy milk.”
The threats have an eerie similarity to ones he launched against Olive Press journalists back in 2023 after we exclusively revealed he had been staying in a luxury villa on the Costa Blanca.
Robinson had been using the property in L’Albir, near Benidorm, to host a series of British and American extremists on his podcast, including Gavin McInnes, founder of the notorious Proud Boys.
Rattled by our reporting, Robinsons claimed he had ‘found out’ where our journalists lived, claiming in a post on his Telegram channel: “I got all your details straight away.
“I know exactly where you live. You live at your mum’s, you sad little p***k.
“What, you want to show pictures of where I live? See if you like it when I come and knock on your mum’s door.”
The Olive Press revealed that the swanky €1.5 million villa was owned by British fashion tycoon Philip Day, who previously owned household brands including Peacocks and Jaeger.
Robinson, who holds an Irish passport, has a documented history of ‘hiding’ in Spain and Portugal – particularly the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Canary Islands – often using high-end properties as hideouts and production bases for his extremist online content.
We established he spent Christmas 2023 in Tenerife with German far-right activist Lutz Bachmann, who had been banned from entering the UK.
And last year, the Olive Press revealed that Robinson had fled to Tenerife after being filmed near an unconscious man at London’s St Pancras train station – although assault allegations were later dropped.
He has previously lived in Marbella, uploading videos from the exclusive Manolo Santana Racquet Club in Istan, and has also been spotted holidaying at the Quinta do Lago resort in the Algarve with his family.
But over the last year he has been increasingly visiting Spain and Portugal, with Olive Press readers regularly informing us of sightings and movements.
The Channel 4 documentary will help to shed light on how Robinson, who was declared bankrupt in 2021 after gambling away more than £100,000, funds his frequent stays in luxury properties across the Iberian peninsula and in the Canaries.
The programme also comes amid longstanding questions over a web of companies linked to Robinson and his associates.
A Sunday Times investigation two years ago found that companies connected to the far-right activist had generated millions of pounds in profits without paying tax before subsequently being placed into insolvency.
One company, Hope and Pride Ltd, was found to owe HMRC more than £317,000 in corporation tax and employed contributions, with experts estimating that the company had therefore generated profits of around £1.67 million.
The investigation found that Robinson and those close to him had used a series of companies to conduct activism, fundraising and media operations, with several eventually wound up through creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
Another company, Freestyle Freelance Ltd, was the trading name of Urban Scoop, Robinson’s ‘independent journalism’ website, which sells his books and solicits donations including through cryptocurrency.
The network has made Robinson’s income difficult to track, with donations from online supporters, right-wing US think tanks, book sales and cryptocurrency all forming part of his wider fundraising operation, according to the investigation.
Wednesday night’s programme will be available to stream through Channel 4’s online service following its broadcast, although viewers in Spain and Portugal may need to check whether the episode is available in their region, as Channel 4 says some of its content may not be viewable outside the UK.
Channel 4 has also made selected full documentaries available through its YouTube channel, although this availability can also be restricted by territory.
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