Labi Siffre has issued a cease-and-desist order to Tommy Robinson over his use of ‘(Something Inside) So Strong’ at a recent rally.
The song featured prominently at the “unite the kingdom” rally in central London on September 13, which was organised by the far-right activist Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. The track has also been used by Robinson in posts on social media.
In an interview with The Guardian, Siffre, 80, has said that Robinson is “breaking all sorts of copyrights”, adding: “Even in an era when theft is easier than it ever was, it’s still theft.”
The 1987 song was written by Siffre as a response to a television documentary about apartheid in South Africa in which white soldiers were shown shooting at black civilians in the street. It won an Ivor Novello Award, has been used in Amnesty International campaigns and was thought to be one of Nelson Mandela’s favourite songs.
Explaining his objection to the song’s use by Robinson, Siffre added: “Anybody who knows me and knows my work since 1970 will know the joke of them using the work of a positive atheist, homosexual black artist as apparently representative of their movement.”
“These people would have to be incredibly creative to come up with anything that would offend or hurt my feelings, and they are not creative people,” he added. “It’s just same old, same old. I wish the media would stop talking about this as an unprecedented movement. There’s nothing unprecedented about it. Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of 20th-century history should know that.”
At the rally, Robinson invited a former X Factor contestant to sing the song, and introduced it by saying, “I always like telling stories through music and this next song now is going to tell all of our stories of why we’re here and why we care.”
Another artist to reject their music being used by Robinson was Tim Booth of James, after ‘Sit Down’ soundtracked an X post showing the size of the crowd. He described being “disgusted” by the use and called the track “the antithesis” of the far-right activist’s movement.
The Metropolitan police estimated that between 110,000 and 150,000 people attended the “unite the kingdom” demonstration. At least 25 people were arrested, and 26 police officers were injured at the event.
Other far-right figures, such as Katie Hopkins and Laurence Fox, were also in attendance. Elon Musk gave a speech via video link, criticising what he called the “woke mind virus” and telling the crowd that “violence is coming” and “you either fight back or you die”.
If a musician or band’s work has been used unlawfully or without permission, they can request a cease-and-desist letter for any accused parties to stop using their work. If no further action is taken, the band or musician can file for a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which can lead to damages payments.