Call for demonstration at Katie Hopkins talk venue

A demonstration is planned at the Lewes venue hosting a talk by controversial television personality and columnist Katie Hopkins.
Katie Hopkins: Fierce opposition to her forthcoming appearance in LewesKatie Hopkins: Fierce opposition to her forthcoming appearance in Lewes
Katie Hopkins: Fierce opposition to her forthcoming appearance in Lewes

She is due to appear at the All Saints Centre in Friars Walk as part of the Lewes Speakers Festival on Saturday, November 25.

Now a Facebook group named ‘Oppose Katie Hopkins in Lewes’ is urging people to protest against her “spreading her vitriol”.

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It says: “Please show her we do not accept her vile, fascist, hateful views and we fully support the migrant, refugee and LGBTQI [a more inclusive term for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender people] communities she sneers on.

“This is not about ‘freedom of speech’, this is about intellectual integrity and solidarity with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people that suffer enough.”

The Facebook group says it is “a shame” the festival is giving a platform to Ms Hopkins, who in 2015 compared migrants to ‘cockroaches’ in a newspaper column.

Meanwhile, an attempt to prevent her visit on health and safety grounds was heavily defeated at a meeting of Lewes Town Council. A motion by Cllr Tony Rowell said Ms Hopkins had made “numerous derogatory and odious comments”.

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These would not provide a safe environment for staff, volunteers, audience or participants at the council-owned and run All Saints Centre, said Cllr Rowell, and discouraged equal opportunities and good race relations.

He said he feared that large numbers of people would turn up to protest on both sides and the venue would be ill-equipped to cope with a situation “that might escalate causing a Health and Safety risk to staff, participants and audience”.

Cllr Rowell said her invitation “breaches the policy and guiding principles of the centre” and the council should not allow any of its premises to be used by Ms Hopkins or anyone else that breaches its policies in future.

But his motion for the council to cancel the booking was defeated. Of the 16 councillors present at the meeting, 11 voted against and three in favour. There were two abstentions.

The festival billing says: “Love her or hate her, Katie Hopkins is impossible to ignore, and this hilarious and revealing talk – part memoir, part advice for the modern woman – is the same.”

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