With two hours’ notice, a group of 10 Cambridge Communists and supporters assembled to protest against ‘Young Bob’ (real name: Thomas Moffitt), a far-right Christian influencer who campaigns with Restore Britain, and previously worked with UKIP and Turning Point UK.
Moffitt’s huge union flag marquee and inflammatory banners declaring that “Abortion should be completely banned” and “We need to deport millions” had already drawn an angry crowd in Cambridge Market Square.
Many people were crowding around him to challenge him on his provocative, reactionary slogans. RCP members quickly mingled with the crowd to connect with the disgust at this rhetoric, selling The Communist, and handing out flyers for our local campaign to kick James Orr – another reactionary bigot – off campus.
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Comrades asked ‘Bob’ questions about who was funding him and why he defends racists like Charlie Kirk. Moffitt weakly deflected to avoid answering us – the typical spineless buck-passing that we expect from many politicians and other invertebrates.
A young woman in the crowd took her chance to peel the tape off his anti-abortion banner, at which point Moffitt rushed across the table to push her down into the crowd.
I asked him later that if she had been pregnant and lost the child, how would that fit into his pro-life rhetoric? He bizarrely responded that “that is not how pregnancy works”, citing his time in “medical school”. He clearly exposed himself as a liar who values the protection of banners and property over human safety.
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This brave young woman remained at the protest, calling him out on his behaviour and talking to our comrades after. We exchanged contact details with her so she can get more involved with our campaign against far-right scum in Cambridge, like James Orr.
Moffitt then assaulted two more women who tried to remove the banner – so much for ‘protecting our women and girls’! The women were chased off by police officers, who were far more interested in defending Moffitt’s property and right to spread bigotry than in protecting the safety of the young women he shoved and tried to grab.
We rightly called him out on his claims that pro-life policies protect women, as members of the crowd pulled him away from further attacking these women.
We initiated chants of “Young Bob, you’re a liar, just another crook for hire”, “Bob, Bob, tell us who, tell us who is funding you!”, and “Paid to hate, paid to divide, Young Bob supports genocide”.
The sound of our chanting was enough to prevent Moffitt’s so-called ‘debates’, and he instead came to film our comrades.
When asked directly who funds him to be in Cambridge, ‘Bob’ had no real answer but beyond he “funds himself”. He gave the prices for the table and banners, but refused to answer how he paid for the expensive filming equipment and the travel costs for gallivanting across the country.
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I asked his cameraman his daily rate, which he declined to give, saying “there’s no money in this”. At this moment an angry local man attempted to knock down Moffitt’s stall and cameras, sparking another violent outburst from ‘Bob’, who again leapt into a rage and attacked this man – pushing, kicking, and hitting him with a tripod.
We tried to intervene, fearing the expensive equipment would be used as a weapon to this man. Along with other members of the public, I helped pull the man to safety and tried to defuse the violent outburst..
The crowd at this point had completely turned on Moffitt; multiple members of the public shouted for him to leave, directly confronting him and showing him he isn’t welcome.
The public clearly supported the man, shielding him and trying to hold Moffitt back. The man rightly told Moffitt that his signs and rhetoric are vicious provocations, and that he wanted a response. Moffitt and his cameraman could only cry that they were “already trying to pack up”.
Moffitt’s so-called ‘fans’ only stood and filmed the angry outbursts of their tiny hero, as he pathetically called for the local man to be deported. His fans were clearly too scared to take a stand beyond taking sad selfies as he desperately tried to pack up, claiming he wasn’t safe to stay anymore. Any time members of the public came near his cameraman, they fearfully called out “we’re leaving” and “don’t touch that”.
‘Bob’ was heard by one comrade saying he would “kill” anyone who tried to touch his things. However, no further response was needed, it was clear to us at this point these far-right grifters were clearing off and we had won.
We had to mobilise at the last minute, be politically strong from the outset – undetered by Moffitt’s right-wing bile – and organise printed materials, leaflets, and a megaphone. We used our James Orr campaign communications to congregate at a moments notice with local activists, as well as students from both the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University.
With our previous campaign preparation and momentum behind us, the comrades and the public firmly stood together against this pathetic face of the right-wing youth. Just as we saw ‘Young Bob’ hounded out of UCL and racist grifter Montgomery Toms out of Cardiff, we made Thomas Moffitt well aware no one wants him here in Cambridge, either.
