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The Army has announced it is investigating Tommy Robinson after he posted a picture of himself surrounded by soldiers.

The former English Defence League (EDL) leader also posted a video of himself with a crowd of Army personnel who started cheering and shouting his name.

A spokeswoman for the Army said: "Far right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the Armed Forces.”

Mr Robinson, 35, posted the footage and image of himself with the grinning men in camouflage uniform on Facebook, writing: “A moment like this makes it all worthwhile. Today I met real British heroes (SIC)."

The Army said it is aware of the photograph and footage and is "investigating the circumstances surrounding this".

A spokeswoman said: "Far right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the Armed Forces.

"The Armed Forces have robust measures in place to ensure those exhibiting extremist views are neither tolerated nor permitted to serve."

Imam Asim Hafiz, Islamic religious advisor to the Armed Forces, said that "any form of racism, discrimination or extremism is taken extremely seriously and will be dealt with accordingly".

"The Armed Forces remain absolutely committed to welcoming individuals from across all faiths and cultures into its ranks," he added.

The Muslim Council of Britain said Mr Robinson "does not represent our Armed Forces, however much he tries to claim otherwise".

"He will rile against the very real steps taken to make the military more diverse," a spokesman added.

"He will remain silent on the sacrifices Muslims and others made in the two World Wars.

"We welcome the swift statement by the Army in disassociating itself from the far-right and we hope that safeguards are put in place to ensure that Islamophobia will have no place in our armed forces."

Mr Robinson later addressed the Army's move on Facebook.

He wrote: "Watch the backlash if the army attempt to discipline these young recruits for expressing the very freedoms they are expected to fight & die for."

Additional reporting by Press Association