Tommy Robinson’s nightmare in the city of dreaming spires

Hardly a nightmare; the debate went ahead, the useful idiots of darkness behaved like the minions of darkness commanded them to.  This Telegraph report is as good as any out there tonight with additional comments from X.

Robinson’s planned appearance at the debate, complete with the incendiary title “This house believes the West is right to be suspicious of Islam”, had prompted weeks of angst among both Oxford residents and the authorities.

The crowds began to gather outside the venue in St Michael’s Street, a narrow lane off the main thoroughfare, almost three hours before the debate was set to start. The police, expecting trouble, also arrived in significant numbers.

Activists, many of them masked and brandishing Stand Up To Racism placards, linked arms outside the mouth of the street to make it impossible to enter. A separate group detached itself to block a back entrance to the venue 200 feet down the road.

Ticket holders who tried to enter were wrestled away. They included a Channel 4 news crew who became involved in a brief tussle with the protesters. The police largely watched on, with one officer explaining they were there to “keep the peace” only.

This is some video from local newspaper the Oxford Mail

The result was that at 8.30pm, when the debate was intended to kick off, only around 60 people had managed to make it into a venue that can hold in excess of 400. A photograph from inside the room, sent to The Telegraph by one of those present, painted a forlorn picture of rows upon rows of empty wooden benches.

Jacob Rees Mogg, former Conservative MP and Leader of the House of Commons addressed Thames Valley Police via X. He was expecting to speak against the motion.

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Three-quarters of an hour before the debate was set to start, Laurence Fox, the former Lewis actor who was taking part in the debate on Robinson’s side, emerged to wave at the crowd of activists as they shouted “anti-fascist” at him.

“Tommy Robinson has no right to be here” was another popular refrain, and at one point the throng even began to sing “you can stick your England flags up your arse” on the same night the Three Lions kicked off their World Cup campaign.

As the evening wore on, though, minds began to stray elsewhere. The crowd thinned from its peak of around 400 people, and out came the songs about Gaza. . . Barbara Strong, a resident of the city for 64 years, confronted some of the Left-wing activists over their face coverings. “If you want to protest, don’t hide behind a mask. They need to take them off,” she said.

I can’t find any report of the actual debate yet, but maybe in the morning. But nothing yet.