Community, not conspiracy - a letter to anti-lockdown protest organisers
By James Beecher, Jeremy Green, and Laura Rowan, with over 200 signatures listed below
Living through the Covid-19 pandemic under the measures and restrictions introduced to manage the spread of the coronavirus is not easy. The new national lockdown announced on Halloween will have many effects beyond hopefully slowing the spread of the virus and reducing the number of people who die or suffer severe consequences. But pretending the virus does not exist and rejecting any and all guidance and advice about how to limit it spreading is no help to anyone. People who peddle racism, deny the Holocaust, and promote baseless conspiracy theories should not be invited to speak in our town.
Organisers of a rally planned for next Saturday 7th November in Stroud seem determined to go ahead despite the fact that Stroud District Council has “refused permission to hold a rally in Stratford Park on November 7 due to the current Covid restrictions.” It is not a surprise that organisers plan to ignore measures. Though the event is to be held outdoors where the chances of infections being passed on are lower, it still represents an unacceptably complacent attitude towards the people in our community who are at higher risk from Covid-19.
Our problem with the event is not only that it will be in breach of guidelines and potentially worsen the local Covid-19 situation; organisers have invited two speakers who promote anti-scientific nonsense and a range of conspiracy theories. As well as sharing misinformation about Covid-19 and claiming it is a ‘hoax’, Piers Corbyn notoriously denies scientific evidence on climate change. This event will not be the first where he has spoken alongside a Holocaust denier. Sandi Adams, the other invited speaker, has several examples of clearly antisemitic material on her personal website.
In a post dated July 2020 (subsequently deleted but available through the Way Back internet archive) and entitled “The truth IS anti-Semitic”, Adams points to the long discredited antisemitic hoax document “the Protocols of Zion” and claims that Jewish groups are part of a “powerful and insidious” effort to exert global control and to stop people from questioning the Holocaust. These are claims that have long been used to persecute the Jewish community and immensely harmful. Though she has now deleted this specific post, other content on her website is barely different. She endorses and hosts on her website a 12-hour neo-Nazi propaganda documentary that contains Holocaust denial and very clear anti-Semitism, for example. Someone who promotes such damaging ideas should not be given a platform in Stroud. It would not be good enough for the organisers to claim they did not know about the background of their speakers, but they have been presented with them. It is utterly inexcusable for them to continue now they have been made aware of these details.
How we deal with Covid-19 can and should be debated. The government’s guidance and laws are often confusing. How well they apply advice from experts in public health can be reasonably discussed. Even the less severe measures – like wearing masks, and keeping our distance from each other – feel uncomfortable and onerous. National lockdowns are extremely restrictive, and the World Health Organisation only recommends them as a last resort. The impacts in terms of unemployment, poverty, and on local businesses – here and globally – cannot be ignored. Neither can loneliness and the strain on people’s emotional and mental health. There needs to be much more attention, investment and action on these issues. It’s essential that our community can discuss these problems, support each other, and come up with solutions together. Claiming the virus itself is not real or is being exaggerated as part of a ‘new world order’ conspiracy doesn’t help.
We could consider the organisers of the planned rally as ridiculous cranks. But Covid-19, climate change, poverty, and racism are all serious. They affect every person in our community to varying degrees.
Though we will respect new national lockdown restrictions and therefore not hold a gathering to counter the event, we wish to make our opposition clear. We ask people considering attending to please think about who you will be empowering, and the ideas you will be bolstering, by doing so. We call on the organisers to withdraw these invitations.
James Beecher
Jeremy Green
Laura Rowan
If you would like to add your name to this statement, please email [email protected].
Signatories:
Rachel Sleigh
Sarah Dixon
Natasha Wilson
Nick Turner
Francis Barton
David Drew
Helen Elliott-Boult
Amplify Stroud
Stroud Against Racism
Eleanor Salter
Caroline Molloy
Rachel Curley
Nick James
Mar Plowman
Natasha Josette
Hannah Basson
Ade Blair
Jamie O’Dell
Sarah Phaedre Watson
Tosca Cabello-Watson
Ruth Schamroth
Jo McAndrews
Carole Oosthuysen
Brian Oosthuysen
Laurie Davies
Megan Sheer
Miriam Yagud
Melissa Briggs
Stuart Butler
George Shaw
Simon Pickering
Sally Pickering
Robin Layfield
Jessie Hoskin
Sharon Gimpel
Eva Ward
Mark Huband
Georgia Boon
Steve Hynd
Selva Romero
Natalie Davenport
Polly Stratton
Shani Wills
Simon Jacobsen
Lynn Haanen
Sylvia Pearson
Stephanie Franklin
David Michael
Mary Hannah Moss
Emily Joy
Pammy Michell
Bob Hilliard
Paul Shevlin
Norman Kay
Wanda Lozinska
Catherine Braun
Chris Fry
Alan Sage
Gail Bradbrook
Garry Strudwick
Molly Scott Cato
Ruth Laidler
Peter Nightingale
John Bloxsom
David Joyce
Aron Kyne
Jackie John
Helen Bell
Peter Inglesham
Eva Goddard
Jacky Martel
Rob Green
Ben Welbourn
Mary Holmden
Tasha Goddard
Michael Cooksley
Nicole Golding
Gareth Kitchen
David Pugh
Anna Bonallack
Hannah Prothero
Alex Raeburn
Mark Rogers
Anne Snelgrove
Den Donnelly
Sarah Lunnon
Michaela Porter
Carole Worley
Angela Paine
Martin Whiteside
Joy Greenwood
Nathanael Roome
Sue Hunt
Adrian Oldman
Nick Mills
LJ Bown
Oonagh Ryder
Paul Roberts
Charlotte Levene
Valerie Randell
Nic Hill
Emily Harper
Fran Mosley
Alice Lovegrove
Max Neckles
Teresa Vance
Jenny Nixon
Jo Rayner
Mary Omnes
Lindsey Davis
Jacqui Harding
Jennifer Skillen
Sarah Barfield
Steve Hartley
Rich Lee
Dilly Williams
Jagdish Patel
Alison Watkins
Susan MacLellan
Jude Woodyer
Emma Ordonez
Kerry Curtis
Denise Needleman
Peter Olsen
Fred Barker
Sarah Millar
Emma Soble
Ann Shaw
Judith Jackson
Pat Olsen
Catriona Bracker
Tarra Gilder-Rai
Elizabeth Giles
Shelley Tester
James Olsen
Tori Tipping
Katherine Kearns
Jenny Barton
Kate Cole
Lisa Beattie
Judi Gardner
John Downer
Matthew Channelle
Meredith Debonnaire
Angie Hill
Elizabeth Russell
Peter Nelstrop
Helena Petre
Sally-Anne Wherry
Kerry Richard
David Alcock
Tim Phillips
Eva Karia
Helen Bojaniwska
Emily Finch
Sandi Beecher
Tanya de Weymarn
Sarah Warden
Jennie Thomas
Crispin Thomas
Sebastian Billing
Luke Coleman
Jamila Gavin
Hilary Burgess
Elizabeth Bavister
Vanessa Hedley
Suzanne Airey
Anthony Hentschel
Linda Chance
Fred Chance
Sue Oppenheimer
Lynne Cain
Natalie Lee
Andrew Paterson
Heidi Wicks
Paul Scully
Cosmo Thompson
Julian Peacey
Neil Buick
Peter Furtado
Daisy McGrath
Emily Seffar
Samuel Jackman
Lisa Hall
Susie Boyle
David Hudson
Ron Birch
Lisa Taylor
Carole Child
Hannah Wade
Dan Hornwag
Katie McCue
Danny McCue
Joe Reeve
Olivia Cait Raeburn Dick
Carole Bruce
Kevin Cranston
Gayle Clay
Dianne Bradshaw
Felicity Warden
Ruth Davey
Sarah Frazer
Imogen Shaw
Laurence Cox
Laura Jerram
Julia Godden
Katey Paradine
Lizzie Fletcher
Caroline Harmer
Clare Hudman
Claire Levy
Ann Furtado
Davey MacGregor
Sam Gowing
Pam Paradise
Diana Simon
Michael Murray
Neil Harris
Alison Ashton
Kate Dryer
Lorraine Trowers
Margaret Lear
Adrian Manning
Laura Perrin
Michael Sheldon
Sue Edgley
Philip Booth
Lidia Cabello
Rebekah Allan
Noel Sharp
Annabel Richmond
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