Rupert Lowe faced a furious backlash last night after he said Tommy Robinson was welcome to join his party.

The Restore Britain leader said that if the far-Right rabble-rouser and convicted thug wanted to sign up, that was ‘up to him’. 

Britain’s main political parties all said they would bar Robinson, who was detained at Heathrow under anti-terror laws at the weekend.

But Mr Lowe doubled down on his comments about the English Defence League founder, adding that he was ‘not sure what all the fuss is about’.

Robinson has been jailed five times and just last week was accused of stoking violence on the streets of Britain.

Fresh concerns were also raised about who Mr Lowe is attracting to Restore Britain, which is expected to split the Right-wing vote in Makerfield on Thursday.

A win for Labour’s Andy Burnham in the crucial by-election would allow him to launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.

It comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed that some of those campaigning for Restore in Makerfield had attended a white supremacist conference alongside neo-Nazis.

A Reform UK source told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s quite clear from the past few days that Rupert will happily welcome neo-Nazis and just about anyone else into his party.’

They added that ‘decent British patriots’ didn’t want former Reform MP Mr Lowe’s style of politics.

Another figure in Nigel Farage’s party said: ‘Rupert is giving house room to a section of the political compass that hasn’t had a home since the time of the British National Party.’

And Gawain Towler, Mr Farage’s former director of communications, described Mr Lowe as ‘a political wrecking ball’.

Mr Farage has always distanced himself from Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and resigned from UKIP in 2018 over the leadership’s ‘obsession’ with him.

Last year he said: ‘I never wanted Tommy Robinson to join UKIP, I don’t want him to join Reform UK, and he won’t be.’

However his stance prompted a falling-out with the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who hailed Robinson’s campaigning against grooming gangs and said that Mr Lowe should lead Reform instead.

Mr Lowe made it clear in an interview with The Sunday Times yesterday that he had no problem with Robinson joining his party, which he set up a year ago after leaving Reform.

‘If Robinson wants to join Restore Britain that’s up to him,’ said Mr Lowe.

‘I don’t know whether he’s a member or not. He may very well be. I don’t audit our membership, nor does any party. If he wants to part with £20 and join Restore Britain, that’s a matter for him, not for me.’

He added: ‘People can support us. They have no influence on what we do or say... If we start bringing those people into decision-making roles in the party, then people can criticise.’

Polls suggest that Restore Britain could take 7 per cent of the vote in Makerfield, Greater Manchester, and stop Reform (on 41 per cent) beating Labour (46 per cent).

A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘The fact Rupert Lowe is open to far-Right thug and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson joining his party speaks volumes.

‘It shouldn’t be hard for any politician to condemn the appalling views and past actions of Robinson – yet it’s too hard for Restore Britain.’ The Conservatives said they would not admit Robinson into their party.

One senior Tory MP told the Daily Mail: ‘The man is a convicted criminal – why would you want him? Rupert Lowe just doesn’t care. He’s obsessed with his own hype.’

The MP added: ‘He sees Tommy Robinson as an opportunity to bring in more support from other places. The fact [Restore Britain] is growing in popularity does concern me.

‘He wants to beat Nigel Farage and I think he realised there’s a space to the Right of Reform.’ Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: ‘Tommy Robinson is a dangerous and divisive far-Right thug peddling hate-fuelled rhetoric.

‘Any political party even entertaining the idea of allowing him to be a member should be ashamed.’

In response to the backlash, Mr Lowe said the focus should be on ‘the pervasive evil of the rape gangs’, which he described as a ‘massive systemic scandal’. He added: ‘Tommy Robinson was right about that issue.’ 

In comments on social media yesterday – after The Mail on Sunday revealed that a ‘hardened neo-Nazi’ was among those campaigning for Restore Britain in Makerfield – Mr Lowe wrote: ‘I want to sincerely thank the Restore members who have made the effort to campaign. This is a team effort. It’s appreciated.’

He condemned the ‘establishment attacks’ on his party, which wants to deport ‘millions’ of people and hold a referendum on bringing back the death penalty.