Piccadilly restaurant that kicked out Tommy Robinson ‘were right not to serve him’

Staff at West End restaurants have backed the Hawksmoor steakhouse for refusing to serve far right activist Tommy Robinson.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was asked to leave the venue after managers said staff and other diners were uncomfortable with his presence.

Yaxley-Lennon, 42, said he and four others were told to leave the Hawksmoor near Piccadilly Circus, on Thursday.

He has accused the restaurant of ‘discriminatory behaviour’ due to his political beliefs. The campaigner protests against what he brands ‘radical Islam’.

Hawksmoor said the group left the restaurant ‘politely’ adding that its decision was ‘not about politics or belief’ and it was ‘not trying to engage in a public debate’.

Video footage posted on X by a member of Yaxley-Lennon’s group shows a member of staff telling them that his colleagues felt ‘uncomfortable serving’ them.

The staff member is then heard saying that he had a ‘duty of care’. They apologise any inconvenience and tell the group they do not have to pay for the drinks they have already consumed.

Posting on X, Yaxley-Lennon said: ‘Restaurants and businesses should not be political. We weren’t loud, aggressive or inappropriate, so this can only be my politics.’

The group were asked to leave while they were dining at the restaurant (Picture: X/@Guramitsingh01) Tommy Robinson contacted the CEO of the restaurant company (Picture: X/@Guramitsingh01)

He called for a boycott of the restaurant and for his followers on X to leave reviews.

But restaurant and hotel staff at venues near the Hawksmoor backed the venue in its decision to exclude the activist.

A worker at the Cafe Royal on Piccadilly told Metro: ‘It’s a difficult one as we have a duty to serve. But I think the waiter is within their rights to say they are uncomfortable and report it to management.

‘Then the manager can make a decision. I’ve never had these problems before where I work.

‘But personally I do not like what Tommy Robinson has to say and would say because of his controversial views some would not be happy to service his meal or sit near him.’

A waiter at a restaurant close to the Hawksmoor told Metro: ‘We are all talking about it around here. We in hospitality are from all over the world. The opinions of this man (Yaxley-Lennon) are uncomfortable for us. I am Muslim and his views offend me and I wouldn’t want to serve him. I think that is my right.’

Most staff Metro spoke to said they felt obliged to serve members of the public unless they ‘crossed a line’.

A chef at a hotel where A-listers and celebrities are frequent visitors said: ‘Mainly we just get on with it because they are the paying customer. But sometimes you have to draw a line. I think the Hawksmoor was within its rights to do that.’

A statement that was put out from Hawksmoor (Picture: X/@hawksmoortweets)

Another chef at a high end Italian restaurant close to Hawksmoor said that everyone had the right to be served but that in some top restaurants anyone filming, as the group had done and posted on X, could be seen as breaking rules.

He told Metro: ‘I have worked in some very expensive restaurants with lords, ladies and celebrities eating. They had policies of no pictures or filming. I don’t know what the Hawksmoor policy is but the group filming the staff could have made the situation worse.’

The Hawksmoor steakhouse chain has seven restaurants in London, with branches in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and abroad.

In a statement Hawksmoor said: ‘On Thursday, a public figure was asked to leave one of our restaurants because guests and staff felt uncomfortable and had complained.

‘The party left peacefully and politely on request.’

It added it wanted to welcome guests ‘regardless of background or views’ and its team had to deal with a ‘huge amount of fallout… some of which is quite concerning’.

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