Free Speech Documentary Cancelled by London Cinema
London cinema Rich Mix has banned a documentary by Spiked about free speech because it does not “align with our values and mission”. The Times has more.
Think Before You Post was due to play at Rich Mix in east London on November 25th, followed by a Q&A session with contributors, before its producers were informed that the venue had decided against hosting the event.
Tom Slater, the editor of Spiked magazine, the libertarian publication behind the film, said he was sadly not surprised by the decision.
He said: “The event could only be considered controversial by those who think free speech is controversial. The cultural sector is overrun with woke scolds who wouldn’t know what free speech is if it bit them on the Birkenstocks.
“I suppose we should be happy to have been proven right. But vindication is cold comfort when it comes at the cost of a great evening of screening the film and discussing it with our contributors, friends and supporters.”
Rich Mix told Slater that it had revoked his booking on Monday in an email seen by the Times.
The email said: “Since confirming your booking, it has come to light that the content and speakers featured do not align with our values and mission here at Rich Mix. Our founding objectives are to support marginalised communities (primarily communities facing racial inequity), promote intercultural understanding, eliminate racial discrimination and foster equality of opportunity through arts and culture.”
Rich Mix also claimed that it was unaware of the “nature” of the event, an allegation Slater has disputed.
The 45-minute film, which was released online late last month, was inspired by the Government advice last year to “think before you post” as it threatened to lock up people for ‘hate speech’ as riots swept the country.
It focuses on the stories of Maxie Allen, a Times Radio producer who was wrongfully arrested after complaining about his children’s school on WhatsApp; the Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, who was visited by police over year-old tweets; and Jamie Michael, a former Royal Marine who was acquitted over a video he made about the Southport stabbings.
Lord Young of Acton, the founder of the Free Speech Union, is among the contributors.
Worth reading in full.
Watch the excellent documentary here.
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If this outfit gets tax funding it should be on a list for action when Reform takes office. Meanwhile is there anything that can be done to challenge the legality of their action. Breach of planning or a license.
“…woke scolds who wouldn’t know what free speech is if it bit them on the Birkenstocks.”
Excellent!
Clearly not such a rich mix.
One wonders what their values are and what their mission is? Clearly not free speech and truth, So they must believe in the opposite which is Censorship, and Lies.
Does anyone really want to have anything to do with or to give money to such an organistaion?
what their mission is?
Signalling their sanctimonious piety (which of course is not a real virtue).
Free Speech doesn’t align with your values? Ok, thanks for clearing that up.
according to Wikipedia,
Rich Mix is a charity that offers cinema and cross-arts centre that is located in … the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, Rich Mix also house 20 creative organisations with a combined turnover of over £23,000,000 per year, employing more than 320 people across a wide range of businesses. The building housed a leather factory until the 2000s, when tens of millions of pounds were spent knocking it down and building it up again to become Rich Mix, This was widely reported in London newspapers and among the subjects of forensic accounting investigations by Deloitte, for London Assembly members, and then Price Waterhouse for the next Mayor.
A quick glance at their website shows https://richmix.org.uk/support-us/corporates/ with Australian finance Co Macquarie – up to their necks in renewable grift. Sadly this “charity” does not really need commercial income – it is well financed by the usual left wing woke Diversit etc cabal. Reminds me of the Scorpion and frog tale
Think before you post? FFS!
Yeah, well ,……. according to Wikipedia…..which is no longer a fountain of truth, is it ? And could you name any organisation that you or I could consider a ‘charity’ within the menaing of the word ? I used to think the RNLI was a greatcharity, as an ex- merchant navy engineer I had massively appreciated the bravery of those who crewed the lifeboats. All corrupted by woke and unlikely to receive a penny more from me in this life
RNLI provided me with a free opportunity to comment with their appeal for money. I suspect you know what I wrote on the slip and freeposted back to them.
How ironic that Rich Mix’s values include supporting “marginalised communities”. Surely a marginalised community is one that is ignored, silenced, prevented from playing its part in wider society? By cancelling the Spiked community, they have marginalised it, thus contravening their own founding principles.
So the white working class then…
Free speech among the non-Left terrifies The Left. It gets in the way of their plans.
Long before the social media police came along, there were academic workplace “police” in the form of colleagues who caused trouble, covertly or overtly, for anybody who dissented, or was suspected of dissenting from, the “values and mission” of that workplace. This was particularly true around 2008, where dissenting from the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis, was a seriously career-limiting move. I guess that the same is true in medical and MSM workplaces.
So why did they ban the event? In what way did the proposed programme hinder ‘marginalised communities (primarily communities facing racial inequity)’, inhibit ‘intercultural understanding’, increase ‘racial discrimination’ or foster inequality ‘of opportunity’?
Examples please.
Eit: Sorry – this echoes a number of other comments.
Guess the Spiked stance on immigration and Brexit
Wow, so they are against free speech. Boycott the fascists.
Bud- Lite, Rich Mix….simples
Vote with your feet. Boycott businesses do not support free speech.
According to their Charity Commission submission they did generate £2.5m of income but about a £1m was from grants and ‘charitable activities’. Their funding supporters are:
Aldgate and Allhallows, All Points East, Assured Guaranty UK Ltd, Backstage Trust,
Cockayne Foundation, Create Equity, Derwent London Community Fund, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, South Hackney Parochial Charity, Sport England, Theatres Trust, Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service, The Margaret Killbery Foundation, The Portal Trust, and Vanguard Investments.
Some interesting ones highlighted. Their annual report is drippings with One Nation globalist nonsense that you would expect from this sort of bunch.