Almost exactly 10 years ago now, on 17 June 2016 – the day after the MP Jo Cox was murdered in the street by a fanatical Brexiteer – Remain campaigners maintained a respectful tone, but Nigel Farage said: “The Remain camp are using these awful circumstances to try to say that the motives of one deranged, dangerous individual were similar to half the country, or perhaps more, who believe we should leave the EU.” For Farage, the Brexiteer community should not be demonised because of the actions of one of their number, an entirely reasonable position.
And yet earlier this month, Farage was happy to use the actions of one deranged, dangerous individual in Belfast to essentially incite a murderous pogrom, reminiscent of 30s Nazi Germany, against the 3% of the region that is non-white, burning sleeping children out of their homes. Farage has no ethical consistency. Everything he says and does merely serves his own ambition and avarice. And yet some people and institutions think they can negotiate with him and his party in good faith. You may as well try to negotiate with a haemorrhoid.
And yet last week saw the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, fearing for their funding, pre-capitulate to Farage’s incoming fascist regime by issuing a joint document called “UK Theatre Member Toolkit For Reform Engagement”, its sheer futility evident from its title alone. And worse still, the campaign is being managed by the PR company Portland – previously employed by Qatar to downplay the extent of its human rights abuses – which was founded by Tim Allan, founder of the anti-transgender advocacy group Sex Matters: an organisation, rightly or wrongly, unlikely to be popular with those of a theatrical bent.
(Allan recently resigned as Downing Street’s director of communications over the Peter Mandelson affair, after Mandelson’s close ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became apparent. Great work Theatreland! Did UK Theatres apply the same logic in employing Portland to deal with Reform as Downing Street did in employing Mandelson to deal with Trump, namely hire scumbags to deal with bastards?)
The document begins thus: “Reform stakeholders are increasingly becoming key budget holders with direct control over cultural funding, leisure spending and economic development investment at a local level. With these decision-makers now shaping funding priorities in their areas, engaging with them is no longer optional – it is essential to securing support for your theatre. However, this does not mean diluting the sector’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. It means explaining that work in terms that are practical, local and easy to understand: making sure theatres are welcoming civic spaces, rooted in the communities they serve, where people from different backgrounds can take part, feel a sense of belonging and see their lives reflected on stage and in the building.”
Good luck with that! Reform’s Warwickshire county council leader, George Finch, is demanding books containing "contested gender ideology" are removed from libraries. I’m sure Reform councillors will be delighted to help maintain the theatre sector’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, even though one of their policies is to scrap the Equality Act.
Steel Pulse did not change the lyrics to Ku Klux Klan to say we should respect the organisation despite disagreeing with its fundamental principles
Portland advises that incoming Reform councillors are invited to visit theatres, saying: “A successful visit starts from the moment they say hello to staff members. Front-of-house, box office, security, volunteers and wider teams should be aware of the visit, understand why it matters and feel prepared to engage warmly and professionally.” This is a matter of conscience, surely? Are female staff obliged to engage warmly with someone like Reform’s Makerfield candidate, Robert Kenyon, who said women should be denied abortions, even if they have been raped by a family member? Should black staff have to sell half-time family-size popcorn warmly to Reform’s Rayleigh West candidate, Stuart Prior, who said white people were the master race and had bigger brains than black people? Should Jewish staff have to serve ice cream with a smile to Reform’s Bootle West candidate, Jay Leslie Cooper, who said the Holocaust was a hoax? UK Theatre, the Society of London Theatre and Portland PR think so. I suppose they’d call it realpolitik.
What kind of theatre do these twats think Reform want them to make? A version of John Ford’s 1626 classic ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, but rewritten to reflect the views of Reform’s Robert Kenyon, who believes women have abortions “so they can shag anyone they want”? Or a version of Agatha Christie’s sensitively retitled Ten Little Indians, but under a reworking of its original title, as Ten Thousand Little N******, in which the actions of one black Briton see a pogrom launched against nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine others? Or maybe a version of Larry Kramer’s Aids-crisis epic The Normal Heart, but with the script replaced by endless repetition of the joke about throwing fags into Michael Barrymore’s swimming pool that Nigel Farage told in a speech at his brother’s wedding?
Historically, culture has been the first line of defence against fascism. Fifty years ago, after the white blues musician Eric Clapton went onstage in Birmingham and said Britain should "get the foreigners out, get the w*** out, get the c**** out", and shouted "Keep Britain White", punk-era activists formed Rock Against Racism. And in April 1978, at Victoria Park in Hackney, the first Carnival Against Racism saw the Clash, Steel Pulse, the Tom Robinson Band and X-Ray Spex bury their cultural differences to unite against the National Front. They did not get together and concoct a document about how to make their work more palatable to fascists. The Clash did not rewrite White Man in Hammersmith Palais so that it was about a woman who thought, like the Reform MP Sarah Pochin, there were too many black faces in her immediate vicinity; Steel Pulse did not change the lyrics to Ku Klux Klan to say we should respect the organisation despite disagreeing with its fundamental principles; and Tom Robinson did not sing Sing If You’re Not Glad to Be Gay.
The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre are cowardly and naive, and theatre should at least promise to put up a fight against fascism before capitulating to Farage to protect its profits. Even if Reform councillors appear to listen to their concerns, their promises are meaningless. Nigel Farage’s opinions, as we see with his comments on blaming communities for the actions of one individual, can change at any moment. The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, waving their stupid document, are the Neville Chamberlains of Luvvyland. “I have in my hand a piece of paper…”
Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf tours everywhere in the UK and Ireland until the end of the year, with a final November and December London run just announced.
Stewart has programmed, and will be appearing in, Up The Anti, a benefit for North London Hunt Saboteurs, at London’s Leicester Square theatre on 6 July, alongside Daniel Fox, Harry Badger, James Gill, Horn Walsh, Sue Jerkins, Shappi Coarse-Angling, Alasdair Bear-Baiting and Stewart Eel.