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Far-right MEP Janice Atkinson launched a spirited defence of Tommy Robinson on the floor of the European Parliament today.

The ex-Ukip politician claimed Mr Robinson was in danger because he had been moved to a prison with a "high Muslim population".

And she sparked anger by making her statement moments after the chamber had taken to their feet to mark the anniversary of the murder of Jo Cox.

Rumours of Mr Robinson's transfer have swirled around social media today, with some sources claiming he had been transferred to a prison with a 71% Muslim population.

But he hasn't.

Here's why.

Where have the claims come from?

The usual suspects.

The claims originate from Tommy Robinson's 'manager', a man called Caolan Robertson.

And he made the claim directly to Alex Jones, boss of far-right crank conspiracy theory website InfoWars, who broadcast them to his millions of followers.

Robertson told Jones he had been on the phone to Robinson who had told him he had been moved from HMP Hull which was "relatively safe" and had around a "2%" Muslim population, and placed in the "main wing" of a new prison.

He went on: "We’ve found the statistics of the prison, it’s about 71% Muslim. Really, really, really disastrous. The last one was close to 2%."

An article based on Robertson's comments claimed he had been moved to a prison "in the Midlands" - this was later rumoured to be in or around Leicester.

(Image: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS.com)

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The claims were later picked up by former Breitbart editor, failed Ukip leadership candidate and self confessed provocateur Raheem Kassam, who Tweeted them to his followers - although he did note that the 71% figure was not correct, putting the figure around "one in five"

Kassam also claimed the decision to move him from one prison to another was made by the UK Home Office, specifically by Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

But the claims were spread further by British InfoWars writer Paul Joseph Watson, on his Twitter account.

When he was told the figures, Alex Jones declared: "This is surreal, like something out of a fiction novel."

And for once, he was right. It is entirely fiction.

Let's look at the claims one at a time.

Is Hull Prison 2% Muslim?

No.

The most recent inspection of HMP Hull found the Muslim population was 79, which is 7.4%.

Has he been moved to HMP Leicester?

We don't know.

The Ministry of Justice don't comment on individual cases, and wouldn't confirm whether Robinson had been moved and if so, where to.

If he has been moved there, does HMP Leicester have a 71% Muslim population?

No.

According to the most recent inspection of HMP Leicester, the Muslim population was 44, which is 14.3%.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that not only does Hull have almost twice the number of Muslims as Leicester, there are also more Roman Catholics in HMP Leicester than Muslims.

OK, so it must be another prison in the Midlands, right?

Fraid not.

We checked the religious breakdown of every prison in the Midlands, because that's our job. We even included Derbyshire, which isn't really the Midlands, for completeness sake.

The prison with the highest Muslim population in the Midlands is Onley, which is nowhere near Leicester. Some 30.4% of Olney prisoners are Muslim.

Second place goes to Lowdham Grange, which is also nowhere near Leicester, and has a 24.3% Muslim population.

In fact, no prison in the country has a 71% Muslim population.

Did Sajid Javid order Robinson to be moved between prisons?

(Image: AFP)

No.

Sajid Javid is the Home Secretary.

The Home Office don't deal with prisoners, the Ministry of Justice do.

While we're at it, why is Tommy Robinson in prison?

The ex-English Defence League leader live-streamed a Facebook video from outside Leeds Crown Court that was watched 250,000 times.

The video included comments that could have caused the collapse of a long-running trial, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Here's a full, factual explanation of why he was jailed.