Two men went into the fancy British department store Selfridge’s to look at jeans. One was Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), then leader of the English Defence League.

The non-Robinson asked to see some jeans. The clerk asked if he was with Robinson, and when told yes, reportedly said “Fuck off, I am not serving you.” This was probably because the EDL is a far-right white nationalist group focused on fighting what it sees as Islamism. It’s associated with street violence and football hooliganism. EDL members have been convicted of trying to firebomb a mosque and have assaulted Muslims.

Robinson began filming with his phone, asking agitatedly, “You won’t serve me? You won’t serve my friend, because he’s friends with me– ? Is that what you’re saying?” Security promptly appeared and made him stop filming.

Robinson went public. He put the snippet of film online (it’s not clear, so I didn’t post it, but it’s easy to find). He said he assumed the clerk was a Muslim, “because he had Mo on his name tag.”

He said he didn’t want the clerk fired, but that if a “white” clerk had refused to serve a Muslim, they would have been fired at once, so a double standard was at work. (Islamism!)

Selfridge’s suspended the clerk, saying they were “very disappointed.” Such harsh language. They said they’d investigate. To apologize to Robinson and non-Robinson, Selfridge’s offered a three-course meal in their expensive restaurant, Hix. It’s called after their celebrated chef, Mark Hix.

The offer was accepted. Along with photos of the lunch, Robinson tweeted, “I can’t lie, staff at Selfridges have been brilliant. #fatlads. Complimentary lunch, manager’s a top lad, couldn’t be more apologetic.”

That tweet did not go over well. Lots of people “follow” Robinson on Twitter who don’t follow Robinson, and many were furious that Selfridge’s had apologized. “Shame on you Selfridges” one person tweeted. Others called for a boycott, or for celebrities to refuse to do events at the store.

Fast on their feet, Selfridge’s announced that the worker had been reinstated. “The suspension has been lifted. Company policy is everyone is welcome, regardless of what people’s political views are. [The staff member] is now aware of company policy.” And Mark Hix let it be known that the meal was from Selfridge’s, not him.

Here’s a case where a business apologized, and people were angry that they did. They felt Robinson and non-Robinson weren’t owed an apology. Or maybe non-Robinson was owed an apology and Robinson wasn’t. Or maybe one or both were owed an apology – and a chance to shop for jeans – but not photogenic food at Hix.

In general, people’s political views shouldn’t be relevant to customer service. Selfridge’s says, “We pride ourselves on making everyone welcome and endeavour to provide world-class customer service at all times” – and “Fuck off” doesn’t really fit that model.

But I think it’s different when a customer’s political views are hostile to your very existence in that place. Robinson’s explanation of the double standard he felt they encountered wasn’t a good parallel. The clerk didn’t refuse to serve the party because of their race or religion or even their views, but because of Robinson’s scary activities. Later that same day, Robinson went to a casino – and was thrown out. He told the Guardian he was often thrown out of pubs and clubs in his hometown because proprietors are afraid he’ll cause trouble.

Another clerk should have been called to help with the jeans issue. Indeed, the unclear video from Robinson’s phone may show several clerks trying to help, but by that time Robinson was declaiming loudly, and then security appeared, and in a scene of that kind, jeans that actually fit and don’t look too stupid are unlikely to appear.

In October 2013, a dozen of EDL’s leaders, including Robinson, left the EDL. Robinson said he was worried about “the dangers of far-right extremism” although he still meant to oppose “Islamist ideology.”

While reading up on Robinson, I became beguiled by the Creeping Sharia story. Robinson has been publicly alarmed about Sharia law, and its possible implementation in the UK.

Last April he tweeted “welcome to twitter homepage has a picture of a mosque. What a joke #creepingsharia”

Perhaps because the picture was actually the Taj Mahal, and not a mosque, the great British tweeting public went wittily mad about the hashtag #creepingsharia.

“Alcohol is not available at my children’s primary school #creepingsharia”

“Muslamic bloke walked past on tiptoes #creepingsharia”

“Skipped brekkie today cos there was no milk for cereal. Tricked into fasting? #creepingsharia”

“you have to take your shoes off before getting on a bouncy castle #creepingsharia”

“I just got my head stuck in a jumper I was trying to put on. For a full five minutes, I was wearing a burka. #creepingsharia”